About half an hour through the train journey, a small head poked through the doorway, looking about as wary as a cat could, ears flattened slightly and head almost in line with his shoulders. James was the first to notice, smiling the second everything fell into place in his mind. He leant down and reached out a hand slowly, making sure their companion could see every move he was going to make before he did it. The black cat paused for a moment before tilting his head up and nuzzling his hand, letting James scratch his ears slightly before jumping onto his lap and shuffling around a little before settling down, curled into James’ lap as close as he could, like it was all he needed to feel protected.
James smiled and brushed a single finger softly from the space between the cat’s eyes to the back of his head. He was careful not to loom over him or make him feel trapped, knowing it would only scare him away. He wanted to make him feel safe, not more terrified of contact than he already was.
“Hey, Leo. Good to see you.” James’ voice was gentle, quiet, he was glad he had his boy back but worried too. Worried about the reason why he had come to find him on the train as a cat instead of waiting to meet him in the Come and Go room a few days into term. He looked worse than before too. The wariness in his eyes that hadn’t been there all term until the last few days. There were a few sections in his coat that were thinner than others, letting a few scars show on the skin underneath. James gently brushed a finger along one of them, moving the fur out of the way so he could see how bad it was but was stopped when Regulus turned his head and bit his finger, not badly, just enough to say ‘no’. He smiled apologetically and went back to scratching his ears, laughing softly when he felt Regulus start to purr contentedly and nuzzle his head closer. He was always so much more relaxed as a cat, like his mind as an animal was more simple, thinking only of cuddles, food and sleep. James knew what it felt like, he had the same thing. He was quite glad Regulus was able to find comfort the same way.
“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t too bad.” The cat huffed, or, rather, did the closest to a huff a cat could achieve and closed his eyes, pretending not to have heard what he said and instead leaning further into James’ pets. “I’m not forgetting about this, you know. I’m checking them all over later for your own safety.” James said, his voice at a volume that meant only Regulus could hear. He was ignored. “Well, you can’t act all surprised when I ask to check your scars later, I did warn you.”
Regulus ignored him again and buried his face in the folds of James’ jumper. Instantly, he knew that this was Regulus hiding from the situation and telling James that he had overstepped. Pulling his knees into him more, he wrapped his arms around them to create a more enclosed space around Regulus, knowing it would make him feel safer.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry. I know you came here to be comforted, not to be mothered, I’ll stop, yeah? We’ll talk about it later, you can’t escape that, but for now I’ll leave it alone. Just stay here, okay? For a few minutes or the whole ride, I don’t mind, okay? I’m glad I was the person you came to for safety and company, when you could have easily spoken to your friend’s, I’m really proud of you for-”
His whispering was cut off by Remus. “You know this cat then?”
James looked up, his hand subconsciously running down Regulus’ back in a gentle, comforting manner and nodded.
“What gave it away?”
“I mean mostly the way they were so nervous when they walked in, aeroplane ears and all, then the second you reached out, they looked all…happy. And you called them Leo and started whispering to them and most people don’t whisper to a stranger’s cat.”
James laughed and felt Regulus shuffle to be more comfortable, closing his eyes and purring softly.
“Yeah, he’s become a pretty good friend of mine the last two years. You know Pandora from Ravenclaw? He’s her cat. Called him Leo after the myth. Y’know, the nemean lion.”
He felt Regulus dig his claws into James’ arm as a warning and patted his fluffy stomach reassuringly. Sirius was very intelligent academically but was rarely able to put two and two together. Just as James had expected, Sirius nodded absentmindedly.
“Cool. Pandora didn’t give him all those, did she? I mean she doesn’t seem like the type but Merlin, some of those look worse than my mother’s hexes.”
Regulus flinched slightly but Sirius didn’t seem to notice, too busy looking at James with concern.
“No, this wasn’t Pan. He, um…he’s a rescue. His old family used to hurt him…but he's got the family he deserves now and is showered with more love than he can likely handle.”
James pulled Regulus closer, watching him wriggle around slightly to stay comfortable and leaned down, kissing the top of his head, feeling his ears twitch. Regulus looked like he was about to cry, that would be a sight, a cat with tears down his cheeks.
“Sounds familiar. Poor little guy.” Sirius reached out to pet the cat but Regulus flinched away before he could. Sirius looked disappointed but saw the fear on his face and decided to leave it. Regulus was clearly still not comfortable with his brother yet.
“He, uh, he’s wary of new people.”
Regulus sniffed at the words ‘new people’ as if to say ‘he’s the exact opposite’ and James hid a smile, scratching under the cat’s chin instead.
“Makes sense, poor fella.”
It was mostly relaxed after that, the boys chatted and Regulus stayed safely snuggled in James’ lap, dozing off occasionally and watching James laugh with his friends when he was awake.
Not long before they arrived at school, James shuffled in his seat and patted Regulus’ side to make sure he was awake and attentive.
“I should probably take this little guy back to Pan before the train arrives, I’ll be back in a sec.”
Regulus reluctantly jumped off from where he was sat and walked alongside James down the train until they reached an empty compartment and slipped inside, James closing the door and shutting the blinds.
When he turned around, Regulus had already transformed back and practically leaped on him, trapping him in a tight, rather un-Regulus hug.
He laughed softly at the gesture and rested a hand gently on Regulus’ back. “Hello to you too.”
Regulus buried his face in James’ neck and huffed. “Shut up, I haven't been able to hug you in months.”
“Oh I wasn’t complaining, Reg.” James whispered back, letting his hands drop down to Regulus’ hips and leaning back so he could gently press their lips together, smiling as Regulus hummed into his mouth and held his face carefully.
“Missed you,” Regulus muttered into the small space between them. “A lot.” He finished, sounding somewhere in between sad and relieved.
James lifted Regulus’ chin with his thumb and kissed his nose tenderly. “Missed you too, little lion.”
Regulus groaned and moved away, shoving him slightly. “Didn’t miss that, though.”
“Ah, come on, you did!”
They both went silent for a few seconds. James broke it.
“We’re still gonna talk about those scars, you know? It’s important.”
Closing his eyes, Regulus leaned into James again.
“Whatever.”
“But, like I said, that’s for later. Now is for sappy sappy reunions.”
Regulus laughed. “Agreed.”
A few people called out about seeing Hogsmeade station and they realised that this ‘sappy sappy reunion’ had been cut short by the amount of time they had spent with the others.
James raised his hand and scratched his neck awkwardly. “So…see you on Wednesday?”
Regulus opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “Why Wednesday?Why can’t I see you today?”
“And I’m the clingy one?” Regulus scowled and James laughed even more. “We can’t go to our room today, everyone will still be settling in.”
Regulus crossed his arms and sat down. “We did it last year just fine.”
“And almost got caught by a bunch of first years.”
“Semantics.”
“Why are you so interested in being around me so much? Usually you’re more…Slytherin.”
“Slytherin isn't an adjective. What about tomorrow?”
James thought about it for a few seconds, deciding that it couldn’t hurt.
“Yeah, okay, tomorrow sounds good.”
Regulus nodded and stood up, standing on his tiptoes slightly to kiss James one last time.
“Perfect. See you at 8. Love you.”
And he disappeared only milliseconds after James had said “I love you too.”