It was a beautiful, sunny June day, the birds were singing and the sun was gently caressing the ground, waking up its creatures. It was a truly beautiful, calm day, and yet the Gryffindor sixth years didn't agree with it.
Because yesterday in the Gryffindor Tower the victory of one of the last Quidditch matches was celebrated, Gryfindor was ahead in the results in the tables. A good reason to celebrate.
James, who was the captain of the team, was already convinced that they would win. A reason to be proud and of course to celebrate.
As you know, Gryffindor parties are not peaceful, they are not about playing chess and drinking tea. So you can guess it was a really crazy Friday night.
Singing, drinking, screaming, drinking, serenading, drinking, karaoke, drinking, squeaking, drinking, games, drinking, challenges, there was a lot of it all.
No wonder the Marauders woke up just before noon and their heads were pounding.
Oh yes, firewhiskey was the main guest at a party organized by seventeen-year-olds.
Sirius just opened his eyes and a whimper escaped his lips, still slightly unconscious, he reached for the bottle of water lying next to the bed, he knew he would find it there, he always found it.
Oh dear James, thinking about everything, this guy always took care of his friends as much as he could, so, just like after every party, today he left water and headache drips for his friends.
Oh, James was wonderful.
Remus growled without opening his eyes, feeling movement on his right side, he didn't have the strength to get up and he wasn't going to let Sirius ruin his last moments of sleep. So he wrapped his arms around the boy's waist and pressed Sirius against him again. Sirius just giggled and then groaned in pain, because of the sound hurting his ears.
"Suffer more quietly," Peter muttered into the pillow.
"Pete, my good man!" Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically, Remus growled painfully in his ear and Peter grimaced. Sirius himself realized his mistake and lowered his voice. "Please, find us that magical hangover tincture," he asked, smiling nicely.
"Sorry, it can't be done," Peter sighed, sitting on the bed and rubbing his eyes, "all used up," he shrugged, then reached for the water. "Mhm, with electrolytes, literal god, not a man," he muttered quietly talking about James, "where is he, anyway?" Peter looked around the room, looking for friend.
"Mr. hangover-free since 73," Sirius snorted, probably a hint of jealousy there. "He's probably running around doing some fitness freak exercises," he huffs, "or sitting in the common room not wanting to disturb us, the kindest soul in the world." He sighed dreamily.
"I bet he and Marlene are sitting on the couch, gossiping about yesterday," Peter adds.
"Pleeeeease," Remus groaned, covering his face with the pillow and silencing the two.
"Oh my poor Moony," Sirius pouted and kisses his forehead in a truly affectionate gesture. "My love," he kisses his lips briefly. Peter reacted to this by artificially gagging.
Remus threw a pillow at Peter and that's when the door to their dorm opens silently.
"Oh hey, you're awake," James says quietly, smiling slightly, "oh, you're in love, okay, continue," he watches as the pillow that Peter was hit flies back towards its owner and hits Remus in the face. "Is Pete being homophobic?" He's guessing.
Sirius burst out laughing at Remus' outraged face, but immediately grabbed his head, whimpering.
"Oh, my poor love," James walked over to Sirius, he completely ignored Remus who was lying next to him. James hugged Sirius, then sat on the bed pushing Remus' legs aside and let his best friend rest his head on his thighs. "Oh, my poor beauty, such a pretty boy doesn't deserve any pain, does he?" He chirps happily, with a tender voice.
"Mhm," Sirius sniffs, nuzzling into James' hand caressing his cheek. "And imagine that this cruel man," he points at Peter, frowning in anger, "doesn't want to help me and give me the potion!" He said indignantly.
"Because I don't have it anymore, Sirius, and please shut up, you're not the only one suffering," Peter groaned, falling onto the bed.
"Hey, why don't you borrow one from Regulus?" James suggests.
"What?" All the boys looked at him, their looks slightly disbelieving and surprised. Why was the topic of Regulus suddenly brought up in their company? This didn't happen often, not if not initiated by Sirius.
"Yeah?" James frowned not understanding why it's so weird, "he's a real genius at potions, he's like, super smart." He speaks with slight admiration. "I bet he has some in his room, he definitely has some little hidden cabinet where he keeps samples and other potions that he practices during extra classes. He can definitely make a hangover potion, it's good business and he's quite clever so I'm sure he has some supplies." He begins to explain and defend his opinion.
"Yes, right" Sirius said slowly, frowning and thinking deeply about something, "and you know that, and you're interested in my brother because?" He raised an eyebrow, looking up at James.
"Well, didn't I tell you?" James smiled widely. "Slughorn assigned us to work together, Regulus is to tutor me in Potions." He reports very obviously satisfied with this fact.
"But–" Peter frowns, "you're good at potions," he states the fact.
"Well," James' cheeks turned red, it wasn't like he was pretending to be bad at potions just to have an excuse to spend time with the pretty younger boy, no, not at all. He shrugged, trying to hide his blush. Fortunately, the boys were too worried about the headache to think about it any further.
"But James is right, let's ask if he has the potion," Remus suggests. He really wasn't feeling well and was at the point where he told himself he would never touch alcohol again. It was bad.
"He won't give it to us willingly," Sirius wonders aloud, there is no chance that Regulus would give him something willingly out of pure goodness of heart. They could have been brothers but there were limits. They could do anything for each other, jump into fire for each other, of course, but sharing their favorite snack? It was above them. Let alone asking for something, yuck. That's off limits. "He'll laugh in my face and charge me an exorbitant amount of money, no, no, we're not doing that." He shakes his head.
Sirius could already see Regulus's satisfied face 'Oh, what's that? You need my help? Beg for it.' he would laugh. Sirius didn't feel like putting up with his character, right now.
He could love him and everything, but he wouldn't beg him. No.
"Do you have a better plan?" Peter raised an eyebrow.
"Of course," Sirius smirks, he was already thinking about something great "we'll sneak in there," he informs proudly.
"We're not doing this," James looks at Sirius in mild panic. He cannot imagine taking something from someone without that person's knowledge.
"Mom Effie says stealing is wrong, we know James," Remus shook his head. James pursed his lips into a thin line in response, his ears turning red. Oh, the boys make fun of him for being mama's boy quiet often.
"It's not stealing, Jamie," Sirius reassures "he's my brother, I'll take care of it, it's just a–" he thinks for a few seconds "brother loan, siblings do this all the time, you have nothing to worry about," he assures.
James sighed, giving up, and right after that Sirius stood up quickly and ran to James' side of the room, found what he was looking for - an invisibility cloak.
"Moony, Pete, come on, we wouldn't let James spoil our fun." Sirius turned on his heel and left room still in his pajamas, he'll be back here in a few seconds to change.
Sirius Black won't even come down for breakfast without having the perfect outfit and makeup ready.
"Uh," Remus got up from the bed, rubbing his tired eyes.
Apparently you have to support your other half's decisions, and the idea of obtaining an elixir for his current bad feeling was tempting. So yeah, he was into it.
The boys were changing out of their pajamas when they heard some rustling and commotion downstairs. Then the voices from the common room became louder and Sirius Black returned to the room, his face completely red.
And you won't guess what else.
He didn't have his shirt.
Just to be clear, he was fully clothed when he left the room moments ago. So what happened that made him lose it?
"What happened there?" Peter looks at his friend, amused.
"Well, it might or might not have turned out that my pajamas were partly Mary's T-shirt that she's been looking for for weeks." He smiles awkwardly.
"And?" James laughs.
"Um, so I went down there and Mary was sitting with Marlene and Lilly by the fire and I said hello like a good friend I am, right?" He begins his fascinating story. The boys listen with interest. "And then Marlene said oh hey Mary, isn't that your shirt?" Sirius imitates her voice clumsily "and Mary was like oh yeah totally mine," Her voice he also imitates. "So trying to get out of the situation I was like oh really? Is that your shirt? Wow I had no idea, you can take it, and I didn't think it through because she actually took it, she just smiled and said, Thanks Siri," he imitates a sweet voice. "And that was it for my pajamas." He sighed heavily. "I was stripped." He hides his face in his hands. "In the common room. With the children present." He emphasizes dramatically.
The boys laugh for a good five minutes and then they finally forget about their hangovers.
Unfortunately, once the marauders decide something, there is no going back.
"Okay, okay, but can we focus on a more important problem?" Peter asks
"Yes! Our expedition!" Sirius informs cheerfully.
"I'm going with you, don't count me out," James pointed an accusing finger at his friend. "Plus I might know the password to Slytherin," he hums to himself.
"What?" Sirius looks at him with wide eyes. "What are these secrets James?" He asks accusingly.
"Jealous of your husband?" Remus raises an eyebrow in amusement. Sirius's puffed cheeks and James's slightly panicked look were actually amusing.
"He's my first and only love, of course I'm jealous!" Sirius declares and kisses James on the cheek, making him smile widely.
"You're my only love too, Pads." James says seriously, Remus coughs to attract their attention. "Oh Moony," James laughs "I won't take your boyfriend away from you!" He promisses. "You two are mine sweet, lovely little pookies," he grins. "You're just meant to be together and I'm the biggest shipper– wait, maybe that's Peter... Pete, we have to figure it out by playing this game of 'rock paper scissors,'" he looks at his friend, Peter accepts it.
"Okay, are we going on this expedition to save ourselves?" Sirius makes sure the others follow him.
And this is how the adventure begins.
The boys walk through Hogwarts, from the very beginning hiding under cloaks so that no one will notice that they are plotting anything.
James has no idea how, but Remus somehow made it fit them all, already in the third year it started to become a problem and the Cloak reached to their ankles, leaving the wearers' shoes on display, luckily they were cunning and intelligent and they fixed it. It's true that it's hard to squeeze through with four people, so Peter often traveled in James' pocket. However, no one complained.
When they are already in the Slytherin common room, they are happy about their half-success. Now it was enough for them to find the right dormitory, which is not difficult, because Sirius knows where to look, he was here, not often, because he usually met his brother on neutral ground and not in their common rooms or dormitories. They weren't going to risk the hate brought on any of them by bringing an enemy into their territory.
They quietly enter Regulus' dormitory, they are extremely happy because it is empty. There was no sign of anyone being inside, which is a good sign, they have the time and space to rummage through the fifth-year Slytherins' belongings.
They start searching and looking through every possible hiding place, looking for some potions.
James manages to find some secret hidden passage which leads them to some strange closet, inside they find a shelf full of potions in bottles of different sizes, different shapes and colors shimmer in the eyes, under the bottles there are small notes signed in nice cursive, Regulus' handwriting.
James accidentally trips and hits the shelf, it wobbles, the boys try to keep it upright, some vials start to fall out, they desperately grab them and blindly put them back on the shelf. They breathe a sigh of relief when the situation is stable and the rack is safe again.
"Well, well, well," they hear suddenly, it's the voice of none other than Regulus Black, who used to spend his time in the bathroom taking a shower after training and now he was chased out of the bathroom halfway through his hair routine by a noise coming from his room and it wasn't a noise created by Barty so there was something to worry about - burglars
His hair still slightly wet from his bath, his clothes thrown on carelessly, he ran out in a hurry. Currently straightening his sweater and looking defiantly at the 'burglars'. Annoying individuals, really.
Regulus wasn't having a good day and these four good-for-nothings weren't filling him with unbridled joy.
What did they want from him? Why were they rummaging through his things? Being precise in his potions,
Regulus is perfectly aware of those small bottles that are missing from the shelves, that have been stuffed into thier pockets and now need to be thrown away, certainly dirty, all covered with fingerprints.
The innocent smiles on their faces don't convince him.
"Oh, hey baby brother!" Sirius shouted happily and rushed at the younger boy, hugging him. He wanted to distract him, giving his friends time for... what exactly? But it's quite clever.
Fortunately, Regulus knows better than that.
"Fuck off," younger boy pushed Sirius away immediately. "May I know what on Merlin's beard you're doing here?" Regulus scans their faces and bodies, their expressions and gestures. "Theft. Not nice, boys." He concluded, then shook his head as if disappointed. "Come on, let's leave," he urges them, and they have no choice, they leave the hiding place.
"We just-" Peter tries to explain.
It's a strange thing, but this cute kid quickly turned into a terrifying teenager. It was better to be careful.
"Nah," Regulus shakes his head. Oddly enough, he didn't look very furious or angry, he was slightly annoyed, but not angry. Maybe he was just angry with himself that his hiding place was easy to find, because these four idiots managed to find it, so he must have done something wrong.
"Hands forward, Lupin," Regulus nodded to the taller boy, who bit his lip but complied.
This boy couldn't lie for shit, Regulus was sure. He was so kind, nice, calm and simply good, that it's shocking and his patience? Oh, Regulus can only envy him. Remus Lupin seemed dangerous at first glance, but he's just a big teddy bear. He's polite and composed, Regulus will admit, sometimes funny and sarcastic in a nice way. A cool guy. Really. And that's a big compliment coming from Regulus Black.
Regulus won't admit it out loud, but he is grateful for Remus Lupin in Sirius's life. Sirius needs someone gentle. Regulus, contrary to appearances, cared about his older brother's safety and happiness. He loved him, didn't he?
But right now, Regulus loves how stressed he's putting the Marauders right now.
Regulus is focused on Remus's hands, he could understands why his brother has a thing for them, but it doesn't matter right now, there is a bottle of blue infusion in them. Round and shiny, baby blue color. Regulus knows exactly what it is.
"Isn't this interesting," Regulus smirks.
A wonderful plan is already forming in his head. If Regulus had just offered him a drop of this potion... it could have been funny. This could be a good joke. It would definitely make Regulus' day. It's harmless and safe, just like... a prank. Maybe Sirius will even be proud of him for starting to get all the jokes and pranks - Regulus laughed at this thought.
"What exactly?" Sirius looks at his brother, slightly stressed. He knows Regulus is up to something. He knows that look on his face, oh he knows it too well. "Regulus," he scolds, wanting to set him straight, but he has long since lost any authority in his brother life.
"I won't hurt your precious boy, don't worry," Regulus gave him a bored look.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Sirius snorted. "We didn't find what we were looking for anyway, let's go boys." He orders but neither of them moves, overwhelmed by Regulus's gaze.
Peter looks embarrassed, James looks like he doesn't want to be here at all, Sirius looks outraged and Remus, Remus has accepted his fate.
Regulus had them by the short and curlies.
"Come on, Lupin. Drink it." Regulus orders, something extremely mean in his smile. "You had the courage to take it, go ahead, drink it," he urges, his lips twitching.
"Um, it won't kill me, right?" Remus made a face. He's not a coward, he won't back down. He will face the consequences of his actions, why not?
There's no fun without risk, right? It's not veritaserum for him to confess his secrets, so he can feel safe, right?
"No, don't worry about it, these are temporary potions. It won't hurt you," Regulus shrughs. "Completely safe and actually it might be fun." He smirks.
"Will it help with a hangover?" He asked with little hope. Maybe it'll turn him into a lizard or make his hair disappear, but hey.
Oh so they were looking for something for a hangover? They were close, and if only he hadn't interrupted them, they could have left his dormitory with plenty to spare. Luckily he was on guard.
Uh, he'll have to upgrade the security on his hiden potions.
"Yeah, totally." Regulus nodded confidently. Children don't have hangovers.
"Okay," Remus shrugs, he opened the vial and put it to his mouth, taking a sip.
Brave. Regulus smiles.
"Remus, no–" Sirius fails to stop him.
"Quite sweet, actually." Remus nodded appreciatively. He expected that the potion would be bitter, bad, that he would even have to spit it out, and this... it was quite tasty, like tea. "When will it start wor–" he didn't finish his question.
"What did you do to him?" James looks at the cloud of blue dust that sprayed around Remus.
"It will pass within 12 hours," Regulus said and left.
"What the fuck?" they heard, but somewhere closer to the ground. They looked down at the boy sitting on the floor. His clothes are way too big, his shirt alone covers his entire body. "Fix it," the little boy demands, looking at the nearest wizard.
This boy is Remus Lupin, but smaller and sweeter and more childlike.
"Um, sure," Peter nods, he took out his wand and shrunk Remus's clothes.
But then the boys burst out laughing.
"He made you short!" They laughed.
"Oh Remus, you're little!"
"Such a sweetie pie," Sirius chirped.
"Yes, I'm six years old, duh," Remus said as a matter of course, "I'm not short, I'm tall for my age, thank you very much," he says proudly. "Anyway, how do you know my name?" Remus stares at James waiting for an answer.
Oh, his Welsh accent is heavy when he speaks, just like in their first year, the boys have to concentrate hard to understand what he's saying.
"This fucker," Sirius snorted, leaving the room to look for Regulus. He has to fix it. Sirius will make him fix it.
"Oh shit," James purses his lips. "Do you look six or you are six?" He ask little Remus.
"Are you dumb?" Little Remus scowls. "I'm a kid, where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?" The boys look at him in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you, I asked questions! I would appreciate getting answers."
"Hello little Remus," Meanwhile, Peter decides to befriend Remus. "It's probably stressful, but you don't have to be afraid of us," he assures.
"I'm not afraid," he says, indignant that the adult thought so, "I'm brave, I'm not a coward." He huffs.
"Of course you're brave," Peter agreed "you're a Gryffindor, you know that? We're at Hogwarts and, um, you had a little accident," he explains calmly.
"How about going back to our dorm and waiting until tomorrow for this to... stop? We don't want anyone to find out, right?" James looks at Peter knowingly.
"Good idea. Let's get him out of here."
"I'm not going anywhere! Leave me alone! Let go! Don't touch, take your hands away!" The boy screams, kicks and struggles. Peter backed away.
"What's going on, buddy?" James crouches down next to him.
Remus's eyes are glassy, but they're tears of anger, not sadness.
"I want answers!" He shouted, stamping his foot.
"You'll get them when we're in the tower, okay?" James is looking for a solution.
"I won't be kidnapped by two stupid teenagers," Remus narrows his eyes.
"You don't- oh, okay. We're friends, you know?" James tries.
"That's for sure," snorted the little boy.
"Hmmm, let's see," Peter hummed "I know your mom is Hope, you like black tea and, hmmm, your favorite book is... "The Little Prince". We know you, Remus Lupin, really."
"It doesn't mean anything!" Remus says.
"Okay okay! When we get to the dormitory, you'll see your name on half the things there, you'll be sure, you live there too," Peter sighs heavily.
"I don't know, we'll even call your parents if you want," James suggests. "James Potter, by the way," he introduces himself and shakes the boy's hand.
"Remus Lupin," the young boy replies, then he looked questioningly at the blonde boy.
"Peter Pettigrew," he said.
"He's nowhere to be found," Sirius returns, out of breath, to the rest of his friends. The search for Regulus has been unsuccessful.
"And who are you?" Remus asks. "You're beautiful," he decides, looking at Sirius's face.
"Am I?" He grinned proudly. "Oh, what a sweet baby," he said happily.
"I'm not a baby," little Remus stamped his foot.
"Of course not! I'm sorry I said that, you're a big boy, I know," Sirius nods appreciatively.
"Hey, kid, let me show you a cool trick," James pulls out his invisibility cloak.
"I'm invisible!" the boy chuckles, "that's great!" He's very excited. The boys watch his joy with tender smiles.
"We need to get him into our dormitory secretly," Peter informs.
"Sure," Sirius agrees. "Let me just," he picked up the blue vial lying on the floor and put it on the cabinet. He couldn't leave this vial on the floor and risk someone else getting infected with the potion. Oh how little he knew that its drops settled on his hands and as soon as he rubbed his eyes and they fell into his bloodstream...
They left the Slytherin dormitory and left the dungeons, climbing the stairs to the top. Remus held the hand of Sirius, who was the only adult he trusted at the moment. The warm gleam in his eyes was soothing. Sirius just seemed... warm and Remus was sure that someone so warm couldn't be a bad person.
When they entered the third corridor, Sirius yawned, rubbed his eyes with his hands and frowned as they began to burn even more.
"Fuck," he groaned, reaching for his wand to wash his eyes, but the pain disappeared as quickly as the blue fog appeared around him.
"No!" Peter screamed quite terrified.
One child is fine, they can handle it, but two?
Little Sirius looked at them curiously.
"Hi!" He called out and then giggled. "My name is Sirius, and yours?" He looks at the boy with glasses and the one with freckles.
"I'll explain when we get to the dorm," James says quickly, wanting to pick him up off the ground and go upstairs, but there is a small problem, the boy's clothes will fall off as soon as he moves. So James has to reduce them, but James won't wave his wand at Sirius, he's not cruel, he won't be an adult man pointing his wand at a helpless kid.
Peter doesn't seem to have thought about it, and little Sirius is already backing away with terror in his eyes, tripping over his own clothes and falling to the ground as Peter tries to remember the spell and cast it on the child.
"Don't hurt me, I'm good, I'll be good, I'll be better," Sirius begs and promises. "Please," he sniffs.
"You won't hurt him!" Suddenly, Remus, free from the invisibility cloak, defends Sirius, who is fighting back tears.
"I won't!" Peter promises frowning confused.
"Keep your head up, come on, I'll take care of you," Remus pats the other little boy's shoulder, "we're friends now," he decides, Sirius smiles.
It's just so sweet.
"Hey Sirius, we need your clothes to fit, can I make them smaller?" James smiles warmly at him, Sirius trusts him, he seems nice, so he nods. "You're such a brave boy, Sirius," James praised, the boy grinned widely hearing this compliment.
Oh okay, so now James has more than one child to care for. It's only for 12 hours, just 12.
They'll be fine.
◇◇◇◇
"Really, professor! I promise I'm telling the truth! Sirius Black shrunk in the corridor! Suddenly he became small! I saw it with my own eyes!" Minerva McGonagall receives a report from one of the prefects.
"Okay, okay, calm down, I'll solve this." Minerva didn't have the strength to deal with marauders' pranks on her free weekend, but she had to.
They don't pay her enough for this.
Anyway, why do Marauders need little Sirius anyway?
She planned to rest today, she was supposed to sit down with a glass of wine in a comfortable armchair and read, but no, the marauders had to came up with something again.
Give her a moment, she'll take care of it, really just... just not now.
◇◇◇
When they reached dormitory, James couldn't shake the feeling that something had run past them, something, or rather someone, and that someone was laughing and giggling.
What could it be?
"It's so good to be here again," Peter sighed.
"I promise, I'll explain," James smiles softly as he tries to set the little boys down on the bed.
There is no problem with Sirius, but when he reaches for Remus and tries to pick him up, he gets angry.
"DO NOT TOUCH ME!" He shouted.
"What's your problem, young one?" James frowns, he doesn't understand why Remus got so angry over such a small thing, over a touch that didn't even happen. "Are you in pain? Are you in pain, buddy?" James thinks that maybe, maybe the boy is after a full moon and that's why he's reacting like this, so angry at everything. Maybe he's hurting and that's why he's so angry. Maybe he doesn't know how to deal with it, maybe he's just in pain.
"Fuck off," Remus scowls.
He tries to act confident, he doesn't want to let anyone know, he has to hide now. Remus is afraid of what will happen if the man finds all these marks on his body. James understand.
"Okay, Remus. I have a request, I will prepare some medicine for you and you will drink it, okay? It will help with your pain. And if you have any wounds that need dressing... I'll give you some ointment and you can use it, you can do it yourself, only if you need to, okay? I know it will help you, you will feel better. I will find these things and give them to you, you can use them, okay?"
Remus didn't answer, which James took as a 'yeah, okay, fine, whatever you want.' But that's enough.
"Peter, will you give me the things from Remus's drawer?" He asked and Peter did.
James magically reduce the dose of the medicine, he couldn't let the child use something adapted for an almost adult, he hoped he did it right because he had to ease the pain of this child, but he wanted to do it safely so as not to hurt him in the process. He couldn't let little Remus suffer, he was sure that if the pain went away the boy would be calmer.
James put these things in the bathroom, low so that the boy had easy access to them, he promised that it would be safe. Remus looked over, intrigued. He slowly slid off the bed, the boys didn't say anything so as not to scare him.
"I'm going to pee," he pointed out, James nodded seriously. If Remus wanted to play it that way, fine.
When he returned a few minutes later, he looked better and seemed to feel better, moving more freely. He even whispered, "Thank you." To James. He had no idea how James knew or guessed, but he was grateful for the help and for not saying anything about his condition.
He joined Sirius on the bed.
Peter also headed to his bed, before that he reached for his water and drank. "I can finally rest, yay. Do you think the boys will remember–"
Sirius sniffs, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face in them, He doesn't understand what's going on and it's stressful. Where are his parents, where is his little brother? Why is he alone? Why is he here? Where he is? Sirius is afraid, and maybe he is a brave boy and has this other boy for support, and the boy in glasses seems nice but... but he is a child, just a little child.
Remus on the other hand is impatient. Merlin, this kid has a temper, he looks at James demanding answers. He's not going to spend time around these stupid teenagers, he's not going to listen to them, who do they think they are?
"What did you say Pete?" James looks at his friend's bed and freezes in shock.
No, no, no, no, no.
"Where am I? Are you James? You look like James, but you're old." The little blond wipes his watery eyes as he sniffs.
"No, not again." James stares at another child and is in disbelief, how did this happen? What the fuck was going on?
"You're mad?" The little blond asks, playing with his hands and looking at the floor.
"Oh no, Pete, I'm not mad, I am not." He assures. "And yes, you're right I'm James. You've turned into a little boy for a while, don't worry, I'll take care of you, I won't let you get hurt." He reassures him, coming closer, wiping the tears from the boy's cheeks and stroking his back comfortingly as he hugs him.
"Another kid?" Remus leaned out to look over James's shoulder, which was blocking his view of the blond-haired boy.
"Hi, I'm Sirius," Sirius introduces himself, jumping off the bed. "And you, what's your name?"
"I'm Peter," he muttered.
"So that's what happened? We drank something and become small? Is it because of magic? You said it would take a few hours, so it will pass?" Remus puts his hands at his sides and stares stubbornly at James.
Oh James loves him.
"You're such a smart boy, Remus. You've always been like this, haven't you? I admire you, really." James smiles as he shakes his head. "You're right, it's temporary. It sounds strange, but you are seventeen years old, we're friends, We're at school."
"Hogwarts," Remus says breathlessly.
"Yeah," James smiles "It's beautiful here, isn't it?"
"They accepted me at Hogwarts?" Remus opens his eyes wide, he doesn't believe it, "they accepted me at Hogwarts!" He squeals excitedly, "I got into the school," he smiles widely.
"Why wouldn't you - oh," James presses his lips into a thin line, isn't it sad that even as a little boy, so small and tiny, Remus knew that he was different, not accepted by society and condemned to loneliness? James' heart was breaking.
"Will you explain why this happened? Why have I been rejuvenated?" Remus asked after a while.
James' eyes went for a moment to Sirius, who was listening carefully as Peter told him about the plants that could be seen outside the window.
They're so sweet. So cute.
"You drank a potion that rejuvenated you and now for twelve hours you are a little boy again, don't worry, it will pass and during this time I will provide you with entertainment, we won't be bored, I will take care of you." James promises, Remus smiles slightly.
"Are you my friend too?" Sirius pulls the older boy's shirt and lifts his head to look at James. "I would like to have a friend, although my mom says that friends are just bullshit and I don't need them because I have my family."
"Oh Sirius," James bite his tongue. "Yes we are friends, and you, you are my best friend." He crouches down next to him and smiles warmly. "You always make me happy, you are a good friend Sirius."
"Am I?" He beamed and smiled broadly.
"You are," James ruffles his hair. "Pete, you're my friend too, that's obvious." He smiles. "Do you want to know what more? Actually, we're all friends. We are a group of friends and we love each other very much." He informs.
"I have whole three friends?" Remus and Sirius ask at the same time. They don't believe it, they don't allow themselves to think that one person could like them, let alone three. Three friends. Three. "Woah." The whispered.
"Hey, hey, even more than three." James smiles sadly, it hurts so much. "There are girls too, Lilly, Mary, Marlene," he lists, "we all stick together, we're great."
"Really?" Sirius asks with a hope that breaks James's heart, it's like he's asking 'am I worth someone's attention?'
"You're not lying?" Remus asks too and there's a doubt in his voice, like he doesn't believe James and that hurts too. 'How could anyone like me? I have too many secrets, how can they like me when I can't show them the real me?'
"Really?" Peter asks excitedly, James already has tears in his eyes. 'Did we make it? Someone liked us? Don't they think I'm weird?'
"Oh boys," James rubbed his eyes.
"Hey, don't cry." Peter hugs him. Remus and Sirius join in.
"You have to be strong," Remus says quietly, repeating the words his mom often tells him. "You can do it, you're brave." James just keeps crying.
It's embarrassing, he's sitting on the floor surrounded by children and they are comforting him when it should be his task. He is hugged even though he should be the one hugging. Pathetic.
Sirius' small hands wipe his cheeks as if he was afraid that the tears would leave a mark on his face and James would never smile again.
James looks at his hands, small and pale and, and oh, red, the skin on his forearms is raw, red, hurt.
"Oh, it's nothing," Sirius notices James looking at his hands and immediately started with an explanation "I didn't learn the poem in time." He shrugged as if it was normal.
"Oh, Sirius-" James didn't finish.
He heard that giggle again, and oh, it was a kid's giggle.
Is that another one?
Oh no...
Who could it be?
"Hey, buddy, where are you?" James asked loudly. "You can come out, we'll play together, okay?" He suggests trying to call the child out of hiding. "We're going to have fun," he crouches by the bed and looks under it, he thinks there's a giggle coming from there.
A pair of glowing eyes stare at him and the kid giggles again.
"Fun," the child smiles, baring his teeth. "I'm Barty!" He shouted as he got out from under the bed.
"No, no, it's not good..." James shakes his head in despair.
He has to find Regulus.
Regulus will help him. James will ask him nicely and the boy will reverse the effect of the potion. They will fix it. They'll fix it and everything will be fine.
Sirius, Remus, Peter and Barty will return to their normal selves and everything will be in place again, everything will be in order as it was supposed to be.
James just needs to find Regulus and–
He will fix it.
◇◇◇◇
And this is what happened:
You have to know that Barty has always been a bit mischievous and when he returned to the dormitory today after a walk around the school where he set a few traps for the first-years to fall over the carpet in the corridor or other minor inconveniences, he found something interesting.
Right at the entrance, something didn't feel right to him. Regulus' side of the room was always neat and tidy. This time, however, no. It was a real big mess there, it wasn't like him. The next thing Barty noticed was an open door, and he was sure there had never been a door in that place. He decided to look inside. Isn't that interesting? It's a hidden passage.
When he got through the door, he found himself in a kind of cupboard filled with shelves and various potions. A smile spread across his face and a diabolical plan was already forming in his mind.
This must be Regulus' hidden compartment for his potions.
Oh Barty loved this guy.
He reached for a vial of blue liquid that had been a bit emptied and turned it over in his hands. The sign said "transient and momentary", so safe, right?
Barty decided to take this vial, he didn't know how it worked but hey, that's the fun of it, right? This will be the perfect payback for the last Gryffindor prank.
From there it was easy.
He closed the secret passage behind him so that no one could get access to Regulus' potions, and thinking that he would inform his friends about his wonderful plan later, when he's done, he ran out of the dormitory.
He climbed up to Gryffindor tower, while waiting in front of the painting-passage, he intimidated a kid asking for the password and was let inside.
He went inside, he was in a common room and there were someone's cups of tea on the table, great! Barty took it and poured a drop into each of them.
Then he thought, hey, it was the Marauders' fault, so he sneaked into their dorm and spiked their drinks there with a drop of the blue potion too.
Unfortunately, he was not the genius he thought he was and the effects of the potion also affected him.
He didn't forget what he did and didn't drink from the potion-tainted cup, no, of course not. It wasn't like that, it didn't happen. Barty won't admit it.
But well, now he was a six-year-old demon giggling and running around.
◇◇◇◇
"JAMES!" James heard Marlene screaming from downstairs, from the common room.
He looked around in panic at the four little boys, this one sounded furious, apparently the search for Regulus could wait. He doesn't want anyone to find out about this little accident. They would have to admit to burglary, theft, improper use of potions and much more, if it got to the teachers, James knew it wouldn't end with a simple detention.
"Boys, be good," he asked and went to save his friend. "Remus is in charge," he added, "because he's the oldest," he added before the others objected. Technically it's true today because he was the first to be rejuvenated so he was the closest to go back to being an adult.
When James went downstairs, he immediately noticed Marlene and two little girls clinging to her.
Oh no.
Fuck no.
"What have you done?" Marlene hissed through clenched teeth. Mary and Lilly giggling on her shoulders.
"Actually, it wasn't us," James defends himself immediately. "Um, I have a little problem with the rest of the boys too, you know?" James says, not very clearly.
"What?"
"Not only have the girls become younger," he said, stressed and anxious, "Um, Remus was first, then Sirius, Pete, and now Barty..." he lists, licking his lip. "It's the potion's fault, so watch out for fluids so it doesn't happen to you too," he warns. "This will last 12 hours, it's temporary, I'll explain in more detail later, but for now, I've left four emotionally unstable six-year-olds to their own devices and–"
"Okay, good luck," Marlene shakes her head, she can't imagine dealing with these traumatized kids. "I'm getting involved in this, I'll take care of these two, but you take care of the rest and how to fix it, okay?"
"Sure." James nods.
"Bye!" Mary and Lilly shouted after him, and he smiled and waved back.
Oh they're so sweet.
He ran up the stairs as fast as he could and was met with the following image: Screaming Remus, crying Peter, terrified Sirius and proud Barty.
"What happened here?" He asked with a sigh.
"You can't do things like that! You made him cry! Are you normal!?" Remus waves his arms, points at Peter and looks at Barty accusingly.
"You're stupid!" Barty responded by sticking his tongue out at him.
"That's no substantive argument!" Remus stamped his foot in irritation.
"You yourself are substantive!" Barty replied with a snort.
"What did you just say!?" Remus threw his hands up in the air.
"Guys, calm down," James ordered. "What happened here?" James moved the boys away from each other so that they wouldn't be able to push and hit each other any longer.
"It's all his fault!" Barty pointed at Sirius.
"I asked what happened, not whose fault it was." James frowned. Sirius stared at the floor as his body trembled painfully. "Come here buddy," he asked, Sirius shuddered even more, tears glistening in his eyes. "I don't want to blame or punish you, come here," he said calmly. "Pete, calm down, take deep breaths, come on, I'll hug you."
"My fault, my fault, my fault," Sirius repeats, panicked.
"It wasn't your fault, shut up," Remus orders.
"Okay, boys, what happened?" James asked, so Remus started telling the story.
James got the whole story, how as soon as he got out, the boys noticed a spider on the floor, Sirius jumped on the bed, and he squealed, afraid of it, so Remus, as he was on guard, was responsible and brave, he promised to take care of the spider. Peter started begging him not to hurt it because it was a leaving creature and it didn't do anything bad to them, so Remus promised to throw the spider out the window, but when he reached for it, Barty walked up to him and plopped down his hands so that they crushed the spider's fragile body and its carcass remained inside Remus' hand.
Peter started crying because he had already named his spider-friend, Barty was laughing and Sirius was panicking because Peter was crying and the other two started to scream.
"Oh, I see," James nodded.
"Aren't you going to take the consequences?" Sirius asks quietly, he's snuggled into James' warm sweater and it's comforting, but the thought in the back of his head screaming that he deserves to be punished for the mess he made won't let up.
"Sirius, there is no need to take any consequences, you didn't do anything wrong," he kisses the top of his head. "Thank you for taking care of them Remus, you are very responsible." He praises the boy. "Barty, you shouldn't make other people feel bad, this pet was important to Peter and you should respect that." He turns to the third boy. Peter is currently sleeping with his head on his shoulder.
◇◇◇◇
"Where is Sirius!? I really need Sirius!" Marlene hears coming out through the portrait hole.
Three Slytherins run towards the Gryffindor common room: Evan, Pandora and Dorcas.
"Why?" Marlene raises an eyebrow, she stops in front of the entrance and folds her arms, waiting for an explanation.
Sirius was currently a terrified six-year-old, and he wasn't much help. What could they want from him?
"Siri?" A weeping ball of black curls unwraps its arms from Pandora's shirt.
Imagine Pandora and Evan's face when they entered the dormitory looking for notes about some flowers and found an unhappy little ball consisting mostly of big blue eyes and black curls curled up on Regulus' bed and oh, it was Regulus. It was six-year-old Regulus, crying and calling for his brother.
Pandora took him in her arms and, grabbing Dorcas along the way, they ran to look for the elder Black.
"Oh shit." Marlene concluded. "Baby Black." She looks at the little boy in disbelief. "Come, I'll take you." Malrene suggests and they go, she let them into the common room and showed them the way to the marauders' dormitory.
She knocked and they waited for James to open the door.
James hesitantly opens the door and when he sees three of Slytherin friends, he almost breathes a sigh of relief, they'll help him with Barty! They could also help him find Regulus and they will fix it together! But wait a minute, oh no...
"Regulus too?" James pursed his lips into a thin line.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Evan asks James opened the door and showed them the other four kids.
Barty and Sirius were chatting among themselves quite hapilly, Peter was sleeping and Remus was sitting in an armchair reading a book that was almost as big as him.
Regulus sniffled, controlling his crying to look around and find the Sirius he had been promised.
"Reggie?" Sirius jumped off the bed and ran to the big girl with flowers in her hair, "give him back," he ordered her, puffing out his cheeks.
"Of course," she smiles sweetly. "We were looking for you, he misses you,"
Pandora puts Regulus on the floor and Sirius immediately reaches out his arms towards him, holds his face and checks if everything was okay with him. He gently wipes the tears from his little brother cheeks and kisses him on the forehead and then hugs him.
"I'm here," he assures and Regulus whispers, "thank you."
James felt like crying again.
"Hey, Marlene, where are the girls?" Suddenly James remembered a very important thing. Marlene was taking care of Lilly and Mary and they weren't here.
"Don't worry, they're safe, they're painting on the clothes in our dormitory, I was going to get them something to drink when I came across these three." She explains. "I'm going back to keep an eye on them, Mr. Matron James." She saluted and he laughed softly.
"Okay," he said.
"Oh, that was tiring," Pandora sighs. "You don't mind if I have a little drink, do you?" Pandora is already reaching for the bottle of water.
"No, please!" James didn't manage to warn her. A blue mist had already enveloped the room.
"Evs?" Little girl looks around, she cried and ran into her brother's arms, who hugged her gently.
"What just happened here?" Evan asked, rocking the little girl in his arms.
"Regulus' potion got a little out of hand." James pursed his lips. "I was counting that he will help me fix it, but as we can see, he is also a child." He bite his cheek. "Don't worry, it's temporary, for 12 hours, that's what Regulus said earlier, we just have to wait it out."
"Sure," Evan nods.
Marlene came back with the girls because she wanted to spend time with Dorcas, but Docas couldn't leave Pandora who didn't want to leave Evan, who didn't want to leave Barty.
"Barty, put that down right now!" Evan orders, the boy got his hands on some wand, if he starts casting spells–
A real kindergarten has opened in the Marauders' dormitory.
Lilly was playing hairdresser with Regulus, Sirius was watching them carefully as he was playing with figurines on the carpet. Barty kept running around, stabbing Regulus in the face which made him cry, and Sirius got angry and hit Barty. Remus tried to concentrate on reading, but Peter kept asking him questions. Mary was running around playing airplane with Pandora.
James conjured up some toys, stuffed animals and more for them so they wouldn't get bored.
"You won't give me orders! You are not my father!" Barty shouted, stamping his foot, and the wand fell from his hands and rolled under the bed.
"Pretty sure I heard you call him daddy once." Dorcas snorts.
All eyes in the room landed on her.
"Whaaaaaat? No, I didn't say anything." She denied it immediately.
Marlene burst out laughing while Evan blushed with embarrassment and James chuckled, the children went back to playing, not understanding what the adults were talking about.
◇◇◇◇
It turns out that Barty is an evil genius even as a child.
Finding a strange blue bottle in his pocket, he decides to pour its contents into the cup of this annoying blond man who rules and gives orders to Barty.
How dare he, right?
So, not long after, another child joins James Potter's kindergarten class, none other than Evan Rosier.
"Barty, what have you done," James groaned. He had lost his help.
And little Evan, apart from being incredibly cute and hugging Pandora and kissing her cheeks, was insufferable.
"You're shitty!" Barty scowls.
"You smell!" Evan points out.
"I don't like your hair!" Barty huffs.
"Your face is ugly!" Evan shouts.
"That's a lie! Your face is ugly!" Barty argures.
"Boys please stop." James has no strength left.
He had had enough.
◇◇◇◇
Minerva finally gathered the strength to visit her favorite boys. He climbs up to the Marauders' dormitory, knocking on the door and then going inside.
"Mr. Potter, where can I find Mr. Black?" She asks, looking at James, her eyes slowly moving around the room. "I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything, I don't want to know anything," she stated, backing away as a group of little kids stared at her with glowing eyes.
She didn't have the strength for it. Not today. So she left.
"I'll take care of these three," Dorcas points to Evan, Pandora, and Barty. "Marlene will take care of the girls," she points to Mary and Lilly. "And these will only be these four for you, is that okay with you, James? Regulus won't give up on Sirius, and Sirius already loves you, Pete adores you and Remus, he feels safest with you."
"Yeah, sure, I can do it, of course." He nods.
◇◇◇◇
"Hey guys, how about we draw something? I found paper and colorful pencils!" James announced proudly.
He tried to keep the boys busy.
He felt sorry for Dorcas, who was probably struggling with Evan and Barty who were still arguing.
James was doing well. Peter was a very easy-going child, Sirius and Regulus obeyed orders without any objections, and Remus... It was possible to get along with Remus.
James loved his friends and even though his heart broke sometimes, he wasn't going to give up.
"I'm sorry, Mr. James!" Sirius tried to get his attention.
"No, not a mister," James shook his head.
"Mistress?" Sirius asked confused.
"Not what I meant." James laughed. "Never mind, what did you want to ask?" He changed the subject.
"Am I being good?” Sirius asked softly. Sirius was quiet and tried to be polite, did what he was told and wasn't too loud. He behaved well, didn't he?
James blinked up at him.
"You’re not being good, Sirius, you are good."
"You think?" A smile appeared on Sirius's lips.
"I know." James tries to smile.
"Remus said he would read for me!" Regulus was jumping up and down excitedly. It was very nice to see so much energy, so much joy in him.
Regulus was a happy child, James was hurt that that had changed. This thing made him want to put a smile on Regulus' face even more as often as possible.
James was happy to see two brothers who showed their love for each other so tenderly, in such a beautiful, childlike way. They shared crayons and hugged, and these little things made James dream of having real siblings too.
After dinner, when the boys reminded him that they had to eat and they actually ate dinner, (James ran to the kitchen three times, but the boys were happy)James took them outside. They had so much energy that James couldn't get them to use it in a closed room.
So he took them to a place quite far from the castle so as not to be visible so that few people would have the opportunity to see them. He turned a pile of stones into a makeshift playground, a slide and a swing. The boys liked it.
"What can I be when I grow up!?" Regulus ran to James, asking.
He was running with the rest of the boys, playing some kind of game, and now they had to choose a profession, what they wanted to be. Regulus didn't know, so he decided to ask.
"You can be whoever you want, Reg." Jmaes smiles softly.
"Even someone good?" The little boy brightened up.
"Yes, even someone good." James nods.
"You think I can be good?" He asks as if he really wanted to believe in it, as if he really needed someone to tell him that.
James' heart ached as he thought whether these doubts still lurk in the corner of Regulus's heart.
"I think you're already good, Regulus. You just have to cultivate this goodness in you and not lose it, I know you can do it," he sent him a tender smile.
"I will!" Regulus obliged.
"Good."
Just a little more, just a few more hours and it will all be over. He returns to his peaceful life. Just a few more hours.
James can handle it.
◇◇◇◇
It was time to put the boys to bed. And it was not an easy task.
The boys took a bath and brushed their teeth, James changed some clothes into something like children's pajamas, making sure that they grew as the wearer grew, because he didn't want any of the boys to wake up at night as adults in torn children's pajamas.
James put them to bed, putting Regulus next to Sirius, because unfortunately he didn't have a separate bed for him in the dormitory.
"James? Could you tell us a bedtime story?" Regulus asks, staring at him hopefully. "Mom always did," he tries to convince him.
"She did," Sirius smiles softly.
James couldn't refuse them and their little sweet faces so he started making up some beautiful story about kings, knights and castles.
The boys were enchanted and applauded him at the end.
James covered each of them with a warm blanket and kissed them on the forehead, saying goodnight.
"I'm a big boy, I don't need any cuddles!" he got from Remus and how afraid he was of being touched, not wanting to hurt anyone, was painful. James hugged him anyway.
"You're not dangerous, honey," he whispered, Remus may or may not have started crying.
Anyway, the hug tightened and they stayed like that for a while.
When James stood by Sirius's bed, adjusting his pillow, Regulus was already asleep, snoring next to his older brother, drooling over his pajamas, and Sirius watched him sleep with tenderness in his eyes.
When James approached he turned to him and smiled slightly.
"I'm a little scared," he admitted dissatisfied, it's not appropriate for big boys to be afraid, "could you stay with me until I fall asleep?"
"Of course," James nods.
So he stayed.
◇◇◇◇
Sirius woke up at night feeling a strange sensation in his stomach. He opened his eyes to discover that someone was hugging him, but it was a small person. He frowns.
Sirius almost laughed at how Regulus himself had become a victim of his prank, but eventually he stopped himself and for a few moments just wathed the sleeping boy who was breathing calmly.
Oh, how long ago he hadn't done this, how long ago he lost it.
Regulus was no longer a small, fragile child in need of care, he was almost an adult, he was strong and brave and... and to say the least, Sirius felt unnecessary. What he wouldn't give for Regulus to come and hug him from time to time, the way he did now, as if he was his whole world, a safe place.
But he understood, they were adults, and things were good between them, so he shouldn't complain, maybe it was just sentiment? Maybe nostalgia for childhood.
He managed to fall back asleep, but then shortly afterwards he was rudely awoken from his sleep by the words: "what the fuck?"
"What am I doing in your bed? I'm even wearing your clothes." Regulus wrinkled his nose dissatisfied. "Oh wait," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he remembered "what."
"Are you going back to your room?" Sirius nodded at him.
"You're dreaming," Regulus snorted, laying down on the bed again.
Something Sirius didn't expect: he reached out to hug him again. Before Sirius could even come to grips with that fact, Regulus fell asleep.
Oh, how good.
"What a sick dream I had," Remus wakes up and mutters, rubbing his eyes.
"Nah, not a dream, mate," Peter waved him off.
"Moony, my love, you're such a sweet baby," Sirius chirps.
"Oh, fuck off," Remus huffs.
"Our children will be beautiful," Sirius sighed dreamily.
"Hello, sleeping beauties," James smiled widely as he entered the dormitory with a tray of waffles.
"Oh, the man of my dreams." Sirius sighed dreamily as he reached for his food.
"Sometimes I'm confused whether you're in a relationship with James or Remus," Peter snorted. "Oh hello, this is my friend Remus, this is his boyfriend, Sirius, and this is Sirius' husband, James." He mock.
"Yes, but James is such a husband," Remus said seriously.
"He's such a housewife, right?" Peter nods eagerly.
"Good man." Sirius sighs.
"The best," Regulus snorted, climbing out of Sirius's bed. "Remember, I'll see you at my place at one o'clock, Potter," he said as he left.
"What? James, what are you going to do with my brother?" Sirius narrows his eyes at him.
"I told you he's teaching me Potions!" James defends himself quickly.
"Don't you have enough Potions topics for this weekend?" Peter yawned.
"Uh, I don't make the appointments?" James shrugs.
"You're a goner Jamie, really," Remus laughs.
"What?" Sirius just frowns, clueless.
"Remus is right, your crush so cute, your cheeks are all strawberry whenever he looks at you, awww, so sweet," where did Marlene come from? Shit.
"What crush?" Sirius looks around, not understanding.
◇◇◇◇
James actually showed up at Regulus' dormitory at one o'clock.
They began their study, and when they finished discussing the first potion, Regulus asked James to return the vials to his closet. Ah so that's how James knew about it.
It could be said that Sirius also saw this moment as the perfect moment to check whether his best friend and brother were actually studying or not.
So he stormed into the Slytherin dormitory and shouted "aha!" scaring James and causing him to lose something from the cabinet, the vial crashed onto the floor causing the vapor to spray around James. By the time Regulus could run up to see what exactly had happened, it was too late.
"Regulus fix it, fix him," Sirius orders.
"But– It's not the same potion that was on us," Regulus frowns, he picked up the broken vial from the ground and began to read the leaflet, which was now blurred by moisture. Oh no...
"No? I see that he is a child." Sirius folds his arms at his sides.
A tiny version of James Potter stands in front of him.
"Yes, but he wasn't rejuvenated like the rest of us was," Regulus shakes his head, the shock gripping him so hard that he can't find the right words or explain what actually happened.
"Soooo what happened to him?" Sirius tries to get a message from his brother
"It's the potion that took him back-" no, no, no, that's not possible. Maybe he'll make a mistake? Maybe the potion was made wrong?
"Yes?" Sirius raises an eyebrow.
"It took him back to the last moment, the last time he could be completely vulnerable." He presses his lips into a thin line.
James Potter? That wonderful, perfect James Potter? James fucking perfect sunshine boy Potter?
"But he's three?" Sirius's eyes widen, this must be a mistake. The potion could take him back to the previous day, a few days, a week, but 14 years? It is impossible. James was loved, he had to feel loved–
"Yeah, I see." Regulus swallowed hard.
"Hi! I'M JAMES, although my mum call me Jamie. Do you know my mum? Where is she? My mummy's name is Euphemia Potter, can you find her?" He bounced on his feet. "You have pretty face, I like pretty things, you're not a thing, that's not what I meant. I'm not being rude, sorry. You're just pretty," he is smiling, showing his little teeth to Regulus. "I think I like you too, you have like, super cool thing on your eyes, what's that? You have a nice smile!" He said to Sirius.
Well, that's fucked up.