fuck
regulus jostles awake when he feels sirius moving out from underneath him, letting out a whine in protest.
“sh reg, it’s ok go back to sleep”
he turns to give his brother a cross look when he notices someone else sitting in a chair next to his bed.
the panic is paralysing for second,before he recognises the familiar face.
the soft smile so unlike the mother he once had. the loving eyes and delicate voice of mrs potter.
“hi sweetheart” mrs potter spoke softly.
regulus’ face screwed up at how tender she was,
“hi” his voice shook dangerously.
the older womens eyes grew sad at that, then leaning towards sirius, quietly speaking to him before he stood up, leaving the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.
“would you like a hug honey?”
regulus reacts almost immediately, throwing himself forward in the same way he had with his brother so few hours ago, choking out another round of sobs.
euphemia couldn’t help but feel slightly surprised at regulus’ willingness to be held, because she knew regulus despised touch. absolutely hated it most times, it would overstimulate him so easily causing him to in most situations, leave the room entirely.
the only touch he often accepted was from her james. his touch always never seemed to bother him, and her jamie was a hugger, he loved physical affection, so when she had found out about their relationship she was a little worried about how that would go down for the both of them. but as she saw the way they interacted, soft, careful touches and hugs, she knew they would be ok.
“it won’t stop” regulus sobbed.
“i’m so tired of it, it just never stops and i feel like i’m loosing my mind!!”
he hiccups through the sobs
“please don’t let me go crazy. please mrs potter”
her heart splintered as she heard the boy who she called her own beg her not to let him loose his mind.
“regulus honey i need you to listen to me” she pulled back slightly to look into her boys eyes.
“you are not going crazy. you are not losing you’re mind. you have gone through so much trauma in your life, and your brain is reacting to that. i promise one day you will feel better, we just have to find the right meds to help with that”
last year regulus had admitted that he had been having some bad thoughts after waking from a nightmare. the potters had then quickly gotten him an appointment with a mind healer who had immediately put him on medication, there had been trial and error, most of them making him feel on edge or just completely worn out and numb.
regulus calmed down slightly at the promise, pushing himself closer to his pseudo mother, who rocked him gently for several moments.
“honey” she broke the silence, regulus making a small noise in reply.
“your brother told me that you may of been bumping your head?”
she paused noticing her sons panicked look
“no no you’re not in trouble or anything i promise love, i just wanna have a look and see if there’s any bleeding, of if you gave yourself a concussion? im not mad i promise, you’re ok.”
he relaxed slightly and sat forward so she could have a look at the back of his head, her hands softly brushing over his scalp, looking for a bump.
he flinched when she reached the tender area.
“oh love there is quite the bump, how about we go downstairs and get some ice for that”
regulus peeled himself out of her grip so they could stand and move towards the door with that. regulus having to pause for a second while some dizziness passed.
it took them a couple minutes of waking with regulus leaning most of his weight on mrs potter (which was frighteningly not much) to make it downstairs to the kitchen.
regulus took a seat on one of the stools as mrs potter opened the freezer looking for an ice pack. regulus knew they had several as james had a tendency to hit his head during meltdowns.
regulus was pulled by his thoughts when there were heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and (speak of the devil) james comes running in the room, calming down considerably when he is within reach of his boyfriend.
“hey love, you doing okay?” james smiled warmly.
regulus just tapped a hand over his heart twice, which was their signal that touch was good right now, and nodding towards James as an answer
james quickly pulling regulus into a hug at that, him standing and regulus still sitting, it was a bit awkward but they made it work.
pulling away, he held the smaller boys face in his hands,
“pads told me what happend, youre safe here love, i’m sorry i wasn’t here for you”
regulus smiled slightly and shook his head
“i know” he says quietly, voice rough from the amount of crying.
“i just get in my head sometimes you know? and it’s not your fault, you don’t need to apologise for not being there” he finished.
james looked like he wanted to argue but instead just carefully kissed him on the forehead mumbling i love you’s only loud enough for him to hear. oblivious to the look his mother was giving the two of them.
it was not a bad look though, she had a look of pride written all over as she held the blue ice pack between her hands.
james never hid the way he loved regulus from his mum. james loved loudly and openly, he was never embarrassed of how he loved because well, he just did. of course he respected regulus and his opinions of PDA but infront of their mum, they loved each other freely.
she was proud of they way they always looked after eachother. despite the both of them having their own problems they were always there for one another. all three of her boys were.
“boys how about we move to the couch so we can get this ice of your head love” mrs potter announced, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over the room.
once all three had made their way to the living room where sirius sat on the floor reading a letter from someone, the two boys took a seat on the couch, james taking the ice pack from his mother and holding it softly onto the back of regulus’ head once they were in a comfortable position.
sirius paused in his reading and turned to look at them, “feeling any better reg?” he questioned
“mhm” he stopped, seemingly deciding whether to keep going
“i feel a bit foggy now i guess” he continued
“i do think you may have a small concussion love, so please stay awake for now, but we’ll have to wait until monty gets home so he can check that out for you, ”
Euphemia interrupted
regulus hummed in response and the room lapsed into a comfortable silence.
that was until sirius spoke up
“effie? would it be ok if remus came over for the night? the full was last night and i don’t think his dad healed him properly and he’s left him alone all day and he’s not old enough to do it himself and i jus-“
“sirius! of course he can come over, he’s welcome anytime, don’t work yourself up love” euphemia said, interrupting sirius’ spiral.
the older black let out an anxious sigh and pushed a hand towards his chest, rubbing it in firm circles, taking deep breaths in an attempt to self soothe.
“thankyou” he smiled
“could i use the floo to go get him? i don’t think i should apparate with him” sirius said as he stood from his place on the floor
“go ahead, be safe and i’ll take a look at him when you get back” euphemia replied.
sirius gave her a greatful smile before making his way to the study where the fireplace stood.
back in the other room james, regulus and effie spoke in quiet conversations, james trying not to speak to loud so close to regulus’ ears.
that was until they heard a bang coming from the other room.
regulus tensed in james’ lap, his breathing picking up slightly at the thought of intruders, until he remembered that it was likely sirius back with his boyfriend.
he clenched his eyes tightly,
‘it’s not them it’s not them you’re safe’
he opened them in time to see sirius come stumbling into the room, holding up a bruised and bloodied remus lupin.
regulus wondered how he had even sent his brother a letter in this state.
it made him extremely anxious, and apparently james too as he felt his heartbeat start to beat as if he had been running in circles.
“moony! oh merlin what- oh no nonono” james yelled, obviously beginning to panic.
“ james,” euphemia said sternly, guiding remus down onto another of the the potters couches.
“ you and regulus need to go upstairs, now please james.” she finished.
james probably knew that she just didn’t want them to panic, that she wanted them to calm down upstairs, but at that moment all he could think of was two of the most important people in his life had been hurt when he wasn’t there.
and that thought made him sick.
he bag an to rock back and fourth squeezing the hand in his, trying not to freak out, when the hand in his suddenly pulled away and he felt the couch move beside him.
fuck.
regulus.
“fuck” was also the word going through regulus’ head when he stood. no longer being good with all this contact, he knew he needed to get out of there before he made james worse.
fuck.
he thought as the room began to spin,
fuck.
he thought, as his world plunged into darkness.