Dinners and Disputes
After they had dinner, Regulus glanced up at Barty and Evan. The only issue was that Evan made eye contact.
"No." The strawberry blonde said.
"I didn't even say anything yet!" Regulus objected.
"I saw that look and that look brings nothing but trouble." Evan retorted.
"What's the plan, Reggie?" Barty asked smiling.
"What if we pay my dearest brother a visit? He's living with you, isn't he, Jamesy?" Regulus smirked as he looked towards James.
"He is, but why would you want to visit him?" James asked.
"Sincerely? To piss him off. He always had to prove how much better he was doing than me because he didn't follow any of Mother's insane rules, and I just want to prove that I survived. I survived just fine without him and without earning tons of her punishments for unnecessary things. Honestly, there's still that part of me that thinks that he'll be happy for me and he'll finally be the brother I always needed." Regulus said.
"Okay. Let's go." James said. He lead them all into an alley and disapparated them to his house. James unlocked the door and lead them to the living room.
"Hey,James!" Sirius said not looking up. Regulus cleared his throat pointedly. "Regulus... Crouch... Rosier... What are you three doing here?" He asked looking up.
"We were out at dinner with James and I wanted to talk to you." Regulus said.
"About what, goody-two-shoes?" Sirius asked abrasively.
"Maybe you would know if you let them finish." Barty snapped. Regulus grabbed his hand to calm him.
"Why would I ever let the reason why I was disowned finish?" Sirius said.
"Wow, didn't realize you were so rude." Evan said moving to hold Barty back.
"Well, I wanted to discuss any hard feelings you might've had after you had been disowned but since you've made them oh so clear we're going to discuss what was actually happening in that house." Regulus started.
"But-" Sirius interjected.
"No." They said. "I'm talking now. You think that you know what happened when you were kicked out? Did you know that the reason they disowned you was because of me? Did you know that I wanted so badly to go with you? Did you know they crucio-ed me for three times as long as Mother did you? Did you know that once I came out, I had it ten times worse. I had to glamour my face and hands constantly, I couldn't ever dream of wearing short sleeves. Yet, you went on to bully me and my friends at school and never once had a genuine conversation with me afterwards, no matter how much I tried to reach out." Regulus was crying. They were openly shedding tears.
"Maybe, but you always let me take the blame before that." Sirius objected.
"Did I? Did I let you take the blame every time we got caught sneaking around? How about when you ran off to James'? That was the only time you took the blame and that was because I wasn't there to see what happened!" Regulus yelled.
"Darling, who is this, and why is he yelling?" A woman asked coming into the room with the fiery redhead that was Evans and... A baby.
"Mum, the one yelling is Regulus. The blondes are their friends Barty and Evan." James said. He took the baby in his arms and moved to put an arm around Regulus' waist.
"Can we get back to the fact that Reggie over here is acting high and mighty over there?" Sirius asked abruptly.
"I refuse to sit here and get yelled at by a man who won't listen. Who the hell do you think you are? Our parents?" Regulus said giving him a look. "James, dinner was lovely and I hope we can do it again. Next Friday work?"
"Friday's fine" James squeaked as they kissed him on the cheek and grabbed Barty and Evan's hands to drag them out the door.