So American

“You are much too thin, darlin’, much too thin,” Effie says, loading Regulus’s plate with more food at dinner that night. Regulus and Sirius both make eye contact, wondering what the food was. Regulus can see tater tots and hamburger.

James is happily chewing away, talking to his father with a mouth full: “N’, Pa, Evan sai’d that he can’t play til’ his ankles he’aled.”

“James Fleamont Potter,” Effie says, her hands on her hips, “don’t talk with your mouth full.”

James swallows, “sorry, ma.”

Effie chuckles and smacks James over the head with a tea towel. Monty laughs, pouring a bit of hot sauce over his food.

Regulus looks down at it, and honestly, it doesn’t look that good. It’s a slop, basically, of tater tots, meat, and cheese. Next to it is a small salad with ranch and a bowl of berries. Regulus looks over at Sirius to see him thinking the same thing.

“Right, this must be new to you,” Effie says, wiping down the counters with her tea towel.  She had noticed their matching confused expressions and smiled. “It’s tater tot casserole. A Midwest essential.”

“Ma’s is the best,” James chimes in, shoving another forkful into his mouth before finishing his previous bite.

Cautiously, Regulus lifts his fork and scoops up some of the casserole. He gingerly lifts it to his mouth, then his eyes widen in surprise. It’s such a plain and basic meal, but it sends a surge of warmth through his body.

Sirius, seeing Regulus’s reaction, lifts a forkful to his mouth and immediately reacts the same way.

“Good?” Effie says, smiling like she already knows the answer.

Both Sirius and Regulus nod at the same time. The brothers quickly finish the food, already getting seconds.

Effie smiles as Monty comes into the kitchen. He quickly swoops down to kiss her cheek while he pours himself a glass of whiskey. Regulus sees James’s nose wrinkle in mock disgust and he smiles.

“So,” Monty says as he sits back down, swirling the whiskey in the cup. “I know it’s your first night, but better early. We give this talk to James every year. No need to be alarmed.”

Sirius and Regulus both make eye contact, quickly swallowing and focusing their eyes on Monty. Sirius can’t see it, but Regulus has the tiniest hint of fear in his eyes.

“We told Sirius this when we sent him off to school. No. Boys,” Orion had said, swirling the whiskey in his glass.

“It’s nothing serious, I assure you,” Monty says, his voice quickly soothing Regulus’s nerves. Effie sits down next to Monty, lacing her hand in his.

“So, both me and Monty don’t.. necessarily.. care if you drink, just as long as you’re safe,” Effie says, “it’s either here, at the Lupin’s, Pettigrew’s or Mckinnon’s, or I have to know their parents. Simple, right?”

Both Regulus and Sirius nod. Regulus swallows the lump in his throat. He’s genuinely surprised at how lenient the Potters are. They don’t care, they just want all of their kids safe.

“No drinking. Ever. None. If I ever find out you did, you will. Will. Get punished,” Orion said lazily, yawning as he talked.

“Me and Monty don’t like to be too strict, darlin’, we just like making sure you’re safe, is all. People in this town take care of each other, but you can never be too sure. Now, either of ya don’t have to do this if you don’t want, but we would like you to join our family circle.”

“Give me your phone, Regulus Black, I need to track you.”

“You, of course, don’t have to do this if you don’t want,” Monty assures, “it’s just a safety precaution. We have James’s at all times.”

James nods, bored by his parent’s speech.

Hesitantly, both Sirius and Regulus hand over their phones, already unlocked. They’ve never had the privilege of locking their phones.

“Sirius Orion Black, if you don’t take this passcode of your phone!” Walburga screamed one time. Sirius had accidentally left his phone downstairs.

“Oh, no, dearie, that would be an invasion of your privacy. I’ll let you two do it. Just send me your number and I’ll add you, simple as that,” Effie assures, pushing their phones back with her palm. Both Regulus and Sirius look shocked, but they put their phones back.

“One last thing,” Monty says, “eyes on me, boys, all of you.”

All three boys look up at Monty.

“I’m not sure what you’re into.. err.. sexually.. but me and Effie will support you no matter what.”

All three boys blush, looking away from each other.

“Okay, haha, be quiet now, pa,” James mutters, his tan cheeks painted with pink.

—

After two slices of cherry pie, a cup of tea, and two servings of tater tot casserole. Regulus is properly stuffed. Not in a bad way, he noticed, in a way that makes Regulus feel warm. Warm and loved. Loved in a way his parents never made him feel.

“No food for you tonight, Regulus. You didn’t score enough on your test.”

So yes, technically, Sirius took the fists and the kicks. The yelling and the screaming. Sirius beared the physical abuse.

But Regulus took the emotional. His parents always made him feel like he wasn’t enough, a weight constantly pushing down on his shoulders. If he didn’t meet the right grade? no food. If he didn’t get a good score on his piano performance? No bed. Literally, Orion took his bed out of his bedroom once.

But here, in Nebraska of all places, he feels safe and warm and loved.

He’s been lying in his bed, listening to the cicadas chirp outside. James suggested he sleep with the windows open.

“Ma and Pa don’t like using the heater in the summers. Gets too hot. I think it gets too cold at night, so I always sleep with the window open.” James said after their third game of UNO. Effie and Monty suggested all three boys go upstairs and play, but after the first game they got bored and started talking.

Regulus smiles, thinking back to earlier that night. James isn’t want Regulus thought he was going to be. Regulus thought he would be just like the movies. A stereotypical jock. Annoying, cocky, arrogant-

You get the point.

But James is the opposite. He’s a ball of sunshine. His laugh is so contagious that it made Regulus smile. James’s smile is so wide, Regulus wonders how his mouth doesn’t cramp. James told them all about his friends, which in Regulus’s opinion, he has too many. Regulus can’t remember the names of them all, but there definitely was a Remus, Evan.. and a Barty.

James also talks, like a lot. He talked their ears off. Of course, Sirius matched it. Regulus stayed quiet. Just observing.

Regulus falls asleep with a soft smile on his face, listening to the crickets chirp.

——

“They are from France, Remus,” James says, opening his can of Coke.

James went to Remus’s work, or more like Remus’s bar, after his football conditioning. He’s sweaty, gross, and his shirt is sticking to his skin but neither of them seem to care.

The Lupins moved to Nebraska from Wyoming for a reason James still doesn’t know, but it’s been a few months since then and Remus is James’s best-friend. They bought a small bar in town and have owned it ever since. Remus still hasn’t told James why they moved, but James assumes it has something to do with the scar on Remus’s collarbone and his limp.

“So, these, Black brothers are.. French? From Paris? With the accents and everything?” Remus asks, chopping the tomatoes for the line upstairs. James and Remus are both in the prep room, Remus actually doing work while James talks his ear off. Remus isn’t actually interested. He has work to do.

“Yes, Remus. One’s name is Sirius and the others is Regulus,” James rambles, mindlessly turning a tomato in his hand. Remus snatches it and starts to cut.

Remus chuckles at the look on James’s face, “like the stars?”

“Huh?”

“Regulus and Sirius are star names, idiot.” Remus rolls his eyes.

Remus took an astrology class in his big high school in his old big city. He used to live in Cheyenne, which in reality isn’t that big of a city, but it’s huge compared to where he lives now.

Everything changed on March 10th, 2024. Remus had just turned sixteen, and by just, I mean literally that day. He was driving down his neighborhood street, waving his parents goodbye as he set off to the coffee shop down the highway.

It was supposed to be a simple drive, an easy drive. A drive he had done a million times with his parents in the car.

But somehow it ended with his car rolled over in the ditch.

In all honesty, he doesn’t remember anything after that. He remembers the taste of his blood and the screaming of his parents. But after that it’s a blank.

He remembers waking up days later in a stiff hospital bed, his body aching, especially his left leg. He remembers hearing his parents talk to the doctors about treatment and something about Omaha.

“They have really good physical therapy in Omaha. It’s relatively inexpensive. Hopefully.. he’ll have full use of his leg.” One doctor had said, rambling so quickly Remus didn’t understand.

It was only a week later that their family was off. Remus was in the backseat, his leg, which was still bandaged and wrapped, was propped up on the middle seat. His collarbone hurt like hell. Apparently, when the window shattered, glass fell all over him. Cutting his face, his sides, and the largest one, his collarbone.

His wheelchair was shoved into the seat next to him.

The physical therapy did end up helping. He was able to walk with a cane after 3 months, and after 6 he was able to walk on his own.

His parents found a small house in Johnson County and they quickly moved out of Omaha and into the small town. Hope had always dreamed of owning a restaurant, so when the opportunity of a bar came across, they couldn’t resist.

It’s been a year since Remus’s accident, and sometimes he forgets it ever happened. He forgets the life before this one. Of course, he still has bad days. Some where he can’t walk without a cane or can’t bend his neck a certain way. Some days, he can run with the kids in the park, or chase after James when James steals his clothes.

James still doesn’t know about his accident, but he never asks questions about it. He doesn’t ask questions on days where Remus doesn’t want to hang out. He doesn’t ask questions when Remus doesn’t want to go play baseball in the field. He doesn’t ask questions when Remus wears a shirt to the pool or the river.

Remus appreciates James so much, so damn much, except for when he shows up while he’s working.

“James, yknow I love you, but please be quiet so I don’t cut my finger,” Remus groans, adjusting his knife on the onion again. “And anyways, aren’t your new friends coming home from their thing soon?”

James didn’t seem to pick up on the annoyed tone in Remus’s voice. Remus is so tired and his leg is starting to ache and he just wants to finish his work.

“Oh, shit, yeah, you’re right,” James says, glancing down at his phone. His wallpaper is a photo of Remus, James, Marlene, Peter, and Dorcas. James was playing the gutiar while Dorcas sings. “Hey, I think I’ll ask Ma if we can come here for dinner. Want to join?”

Remus internally groans. He doesn’t want to join the Potters for dinner. As much as he loves Effie and Monty, it’s so much work to be around so many people. And new people? No thank you. But Remus doesn’t really have a choice. He would rather spend dinner surrounded by people that like him instead of chopping vegetables.

“Fine.”

“Okay, see you later,” James grins, his eyes flashing behind his glasses. He picks up his football bag and pads then leaves, but not before saying goodbye to Hope and Lyall.

“He’s a good boy,” Hope says, sitting down in the chair James was.

Hope is an older woman. Remus’s parents had him at an older age, so Hope’s hair is already starting to grey and Lyall is already starting to bald.

“Yeah, whatever,” Remus mumbles, shifting the way he’s sitting. Today is one of his badder days, ones where his leg is aching. It rarely ever hurts anymore, it just aches.

“Leg?” Lyall says, looking over his shoulder at Remus. He’s been doing paperwork all day and he looks so tired, so damn tired.

“M’ okay, dad.”

“Go lay down.”

“Dad-“

“Remus John Lupin, if you don’t get your ass out of the chair.”

Remus groans and sets his knife down, quickly scooping the vegetable in a container. Remus sets the knife in the sink, wincing at the look on Gideon’s face. Gideon is the dishwasher at the bar. He’s been working there since before the Lupins bought it.

“Sorry, Gid,” Remus mutters, looking at the stack of plates Gideon still has to wash.

“It’s fine,” Gideon grumbles, but Remus doesn’t miss the way he curses under his breath.

Remus gets his keys off the counter, shifting them slightly in his hands. After they moved to Nebraska, Remus wouldn’t even touch the keys. Lyall had suggested taking him driving but every time Remus would refuse. It took Remus almost 5 months to finally even pick the keys up.

Now he’s able to drive. He doesn’t even attempt going to Omaha or Lincoln. He either has his parents take him or sometimes James.

He’s able to drive the short two minutes back home without freaking out, even if he goes ten miles under the speed limit.

“Bye mom, bye dad.” Remus waves and Hope and Lyall look up at the same time, waving goodbye to Remus.

Remus heavily sighs as he limps out to the truck. It’s a small, beat down blue one, but it’s all Remus wanted. It’s all enough that he can easily get in and out of it. He grabs the handle and pulls himself into the drivers seat, clicking the key into place.

He starts to drive home. It’s a calm and peaceful drive, expect for when he passes another car. His hands clench the wheel so tight, trying to stay on his side of the road.

Get it together, Remus.

Remus lets out a breath as the tiny car passes. Now it’s just a straight shot home.

Calm down, Remus, you’re fine.

Remus pulls into the driveway of his home. Safe and sound.