Start of Summer
Regulus was terrified for summer. He knew that he and Sirius would only return back the next year with fresh scars and marks, all of which would be concealed by their robes. He hated going through it, but more than that, he hated watching his brother go through it. There was something so sinister about seeing his 'protector' fall so weak at the hands of their mother, it broke him every time. Not long after they formed, his fears became apparent, and of course, the first to realise something was up was the ever annoying James Potter, who just couldn't seem to get enough of bothering Regulus. Not so deep down, Regulus knew he adored the caregiver's pestering, the way the older boy would pull him into quiet corridors to ask over and over how he was, it was surprisingly comforting, not that he'd ever admit that, especially not to James. That felt too close to admitting his true classification, something his parents had worked hard to hide from everyone, including his older brother.
James had been on his way to breakfast when he saw the Slytherin, just mindlessly roaming around, with his eyes locked on some blank parchment. Regulus' hair looked unusually unkempt, that was the first major sign to James that something was up. The next was the way the younger boy's tie was done up, it had a thicker knot that usual, and looked like most of the first year's ties, not at all like one that would belong to anyone in their third year, like Regulus was. The Gryffindor intertwined his arm with the Slytherin's as they passed, tugging him gently in the other direction, into one of the classrooms that wasn't being used due to it being a Saturday.
"What's up with you today, Reggie?" James asked, keeping his voice low, just in case anyone passed by. Regulus was already frowning at that point, tucking his stack of parchment under his arm and looking up at the fourth year. He didn't know what to say. What was up with him? A lot, really. He wasn't used to talking about his feelings enough yet to describe that lot, though. He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the tile beneath him, letting out a cough to break the silence. That only concerned James more, usually he would've gotten a snide comment thrown back at him, or he would've been chastised for calling Regulus the nickname, but being met with silence was new. Terrifyingly so. He pulled around two chairs to be facing each other, settling into one of them and inviting Regulus to do the same in the other.
"I'm scared," Regulus admitted almost silently as he took the seat, bringing his legs up to his chest, his heels just barely gripping the edge of the chair. James let out a sorrowful breath, he'd never heard Regulus admit to any emotions at all, not even positive ones.
"You're scared? What of?" James prompted, really trying to get Regulus to take another step out of his comfort zone, although the whole conversation was flaring up his instincts, despite it being an interaction with a neutral.
"Going home for summer. It hurts. I'm scared, James," the younger boy spoke again, shifting his head to be looking at the ceiling, so there was no way James could catch his gaze and see the dampness that was filling his eyes. Those few words were all James needed to understand everything. Sirius had told him about everything after a particularly bad nightmare one night during their first year, and so James knew well of the abuse, he just didn't know it continued over to Regulus. James was quiet for a while, closing his eyes to think, but by the time his eyes opened again, Regulus was gone, and a single piece of blank parchment was in his place on the floor. James sighed softly, knowing he was going to have to do something.
Monday arrived, and James was exhausted. He'd spent the whole weekend talking back and forth with Sirius, Fleamont and Euphemia in an attempt to get something arranged for the summer. Obviously, this involved filling his parents in on everything to do with the Black family, and then some, but they listened, and really did seem to want to help the brothers. Their house was more than large enough to accommodate two guests for a couple of months, and so no one saw any issues.
Sirius was the one to tell Regulus, as the Slytherin still seemed to be avoiding James. The news was met with mixed emotions and many questions, most of which were about their parents, specifically their mother, and lots of concern surrounding how she would take it. Sirius explained that he'd told her they'd be staying at Hogwarts for the summer, and there seemed to be no complications on her end. Regulus was nervous, but at least he had a week to prepare. A week of calm before the storm hit, he told himself.
The end of term came quickly, and Regulus found himself barely prepared to leave at all. He begged his brother to convince his friends, the self proclaimed 'Marauders', to take the later train out on the Sunday, instead of the one most people got on the Saturday, just so he'd have more time to pack. In the end, their agreement was that they would take the later train, if Regulus agreed to room with James, so Sirius could have a bedroom all to himself, as opposed to their earlier agreement of Regulus and Sirius sharing a room. Sirius didn't mind that much, he wasn't really losing out, he just hated that he'd get no privacy at all. He likely wouldn't get a minute to regress, not that he'd been doing an awful lot of that at all recently.
Regulus did manage to pack everything eventually, and with some magic, he ended up with two cases, one larger, that carried the majority of his things, and a smaller one which had things just for the train. Really rather foolishly, Regulus had packed his pacifier in that bag, along with a spare change of pullups, something he'd become shamefully reliant on recently. The more he'd indulged in his classification, the worse his need for that kind of thing had gotten and so Regulus had been having to get used to hiding his 'protection' under his robes for a while, though they seemed more like a necessity than a precaution as of recently.
Just a few hours after he'd done packing, Regulus found himself in a train carriage packed by his brother and his friends, crammed in between the wall and James, who was trying his best to give Regulus some space, despite there not really being any at all. The worst part of it all, Regulus was in a tight space with a group heavy with caregivers, a classification that was almost as rare as littles, yet somehow there seemed to be so many of them. Across from him was Lily, a girl he knew as James' ex, who he found out to be a caregiver too. The girl next to her also seemed to be a caregiver, and Peter, who was sat in the far corner, was a very proud caregiver, who gloated about his classification, despite it being one most people kept quiet. Remus was a caregiver, but Sirius was a neutral, meaning their relationship was dysfunctional, and rather frowned upon, yet no one in that little group seemed to mind. And there Regulus was, known as a neutral but originally classified as a Little, struggling to bat away his true headspace.
The fighting didn't last very long, as Regulus had no choice but to drop when the lady with the trolley came around, and James put a hand on his knee to ask if he wanted anything. Initially, he looked startled, then his eyes began to droop and he nodded off before he could make a fool of himself. No one seemed to notice any of that but James, who seemed to be clocking on to the little details, like rustling as Regulus shifted in his seat. He would be sure to confirm his suspicions later, but in that moment, he just chatted to his friends as Regulus slept on his shoulder. Regulus' thumb made its way up to his mouth as he slept, gradually pushing further in until he was suckling properly on it, something that most of the other people in the group did notice, as Regulus brought a lot of attention to himself with the whimpering and whining he did during a nightmare he had. He woke up with all eyes on him, including Sirius', which terrified him. He was quick to tug his thumb out of his mouth and wipe the moisture off onto his pants, looking around desperately for some help. James ran a hand through his hair, raising an eyebrow.
"What is it, Reggie?" he asked, chancing the nickname again with the state the younger man seemed to be in. The only response he was met with was a quiet sob as Regulus ran out of the carriage.