Christmas 1979
24th of December, 1979
after a bit the crew had returned to the Potter’s house, where Peter had already left by now. they had explained exactly what had happened - both sides; Peter had talked for a bit, drank some tea and went away instantly after. Remus explained what happened to them, with Marlene interrupting every couple of minutes, to add extra things.
dinner was big that night, the vibes that hung around the place were immaculate and the music was still playing comfortably on the background.
presents were going to be gifted in the morning, because,
“Christmas eve is for Christmas, not for presents!”
as Euphemia had explained to them after dinner, where James and Sirius had excitingly asked her about it.
“you guys know this! i’ve been raising you guys for Merlin knows how long, i’ve been hosting your Christmas’s for Godrick knows how long; you should know this!”
Remus and Lily snickered at that, earning glares from both James and Sirius.
“not those long faces for God’s sake!” Effie said as she gave both boys a quick smack on the head.
Regulus laughed but quickly attempted to fix it by putting his hand in front of his mouth, coughing for a bit, too long, but luckily no one noticed.
“Regulus, dear would you like something else to drink?” Euphemia asked him, sweet smile on her face as always.
Regulus politely shook his head, and excused himself to the bathroom to fix himself up. once there he locked the door and sat down on the cold tiles.
god had he been lucky.
Peter hadn’t seen him.
or maybe he had? maybe he noticed, maybe he knew instantly, maybe he was now telling Voldemort about his little run in with Regulus at the Potter’s house, out of all places.
what would happen if Voldemort, or any of his creepy followers, would find out? Regulus swallowed, he knew the answer the instant he even thought of it. ‘twas not a nice image, to put it that way.
the only advantage he had was that he knew the dark lord trusted him, or so he thought, but god knew what Voldemort was actually thinking.
“Regulus?” the voice of Lily sounded as she knocked on the door, making Regulus open the door. the redhead girl carefully entered the room, looking down at the boy as she sat down next to him.
“sorry to interrupt you, but you just left abruptly, and i was worried about you; gut feeling, i guess.” she spoke, as she looked at him. Lily could definitely see the look of what could only be described as fear plastered on his face, but she didn’t comment on it.
“I'm alright. was just thinking.” Regulus said, staring straight ahead of him.
“okay.” she said, now staring straight ahead of her as well, adjusting her posture and sitting up a bit straighter.
“just,” Regulus started, he fidgeted his hands for a bit. “what if Peter knew?” he didn’t have to explain, Lily understood it immediately.
“he couldn’t have known, there’s no way. you had the cloak, and all!” she said, looking at him for a bit.
“i know! i just,” he sighed, now looking at her too. “they can’t know. if they know, i’m dead.”
“i don’t wanna die yet.”
Lily pulled him in for a hug, a motherly kind of hug, a comfortable one. she ran her hand through his hair and combed in a soft way that made Regulus feel instantly calm. Lily would make an awfully good mum.
“you won’t die, i promise. i’ll make sure of that.” she let go of him and held his face. he was crying by now but she didn’t seem to care, at all.
“thank you.”
“any. time.” she said, full confidence. Regulus smiled at her, a genuine one.
“now come on, i won’t let you sulk alone in your room on Christmas eve.” Lily smiled back at him, luckily his eyes didn’t look red from the crying, so he dried his face and came back with her.
the duo walked back to the dining table, where Regulus took his place next to Sirius again, and Lily sat across from James, smiling softly every time the boy looked at her.
“are you alright?” Sirius whispered in his ear, to which Regulus nodded. and Sirius gave him a non-believing look, but didn’t go on about it. Sirius had changed for the good since he had lived with the Potter’s, or so Regulus thought. and he would forever be thankful for that.
“i hate that life is suddenly so serious.” James said, suddenly.
“me too,” Sirius said, but a little smirk appeared on his face a bit later and Remus already dropped his head onto the table, knowing what he was about to say.
“i’ve been Sirius since the day i was born, but i agree.” these jokes had been their top comedy in the marauders’ first year, and Regulus and Sirius’s inside joke before either of them went to school.
“i knew it was coming.” Remus said, to which Fleamont and Euphemia laughed silently, looking at each other and shaking their heads.
“you wanna know something i never told you guys?” Sirius said, looking at the other boys. “you guys didn’t invent the ‘Sirius’ joke.” both boys let out a loud gasp.
“what?!” James gasped, appearing to be actually shocked. Lily eyed Regulus and rolled with her eyes, making him chuckle. he didn’t care what anyone said, Lily was the funniest of them all.
“Reggie-boy here did.” Sirius admitted, throwing his arm around his brother’s shoulder, who ‘sadly’ nodded.
“it was you?! my god, my entire life i figured i was the king of comedy. why did you have to ruin it, Sirius?” James let out a fake sob.
“you were never the king of comedy, prongs.” Remus said while taking another bite of his food, unbothered.
“that hurts me, moony.” James put a hand on his heart.
“alright.” Remus looked at Sirius, who instantly started laughing.