“James, what have I told you about pulling stupid pranks like this. Your promised when you-”
James looked up and gawped at his mother, looking genuinely confused. “Mum, I didn’t do anything!”
After a few moments, she seemed to have decided to believe him and turned around to face Sirius, who was standing behind her, looking both amused and concerned.
“Sirius-”
“Wh- Effie! I told you I didn’t do it! How did you even think I got the bloody thing in here?”
Euphemia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Illegally.”
Sirius paused for a moment and then nodded. “Fair enough.”
Standing up and walking over to the two of them, James interrupted their conversation, wanting to figure out what they were talking about. “Errr, hello? Currently very confused over here.”
Euphemia opened her mouth to explain, hesitating and then shaking her head.
“Why don’t you come and see for yourself?”
When they got into the kitchen, she led him through to the French doors, where he stared in shock at what he saw in the garden. Or who?
Just outside the windows, jumping around after a butterfly like he was just a small tabby, was a great pale lion. He had a partial mane and unnaturally grey eyes, giving away not only the fact that it was not a normal lion, but that it was the exact one he had wanted to see since they first broke up for school.
It was a few moments before Regulus realised he was being watched and when he did, he paused his movement, stilling in fear, an expression one would not typically expect to see on such a creature. He hesitated, before stepping forwards, right up to the glass, where Euphemia instantly tried to pull the two boys away, not succeeding in drawing James away.
He watched with a smile as the lion plonked himself down outside the door and started to paw at the glass sadly, begging to be let in.
James raised his hand and put it on the other side of the glass and placed it in the spot the lion’s paw had stalled at. Regulus grumbled and hit the glass with his paw, flinching as it shook and thudded, clearly having forgotten his own strength in lion form.
James laughed and gestured for Regulus to step back, which he did. He turned the key in the lock and Euphemia and Sirius were too shocked to tell him to stop, they could hardly think.
Before he opened the door, he turned around to face them, his hand resting on the handle. He needed to say something now or his mother would possibly attack Reg. “I lied, mum I, erm, I let the lion in? I thought it would be funny. But it isn’t even a real lion, it’s just a spell we learned in transfig that I adapted, look, he isn’t dangerous.”
James turned back around and opened the door. Regulus immediately bounded up to him, knocking him right down on the floor so his head hit off the ground and immediately started to nuzzle his face.
Euphemia didn’t leave time to read the body language of the animal, she saw him run at her son and suddenly that bubble of shock was gone and she had her wand drawn and pointed at the lion. She. however, found herself dropping it the second the lion looked up at her in terror and James called out desperately.
“Mum! Don’t! You’re terrifying him, he is scared of people pulling their wands on him and I’m supposed to be safe for him! Put it down! Don’t hurt him- don’t- please don’t hurt him.” She usually would have ignored him and forced him to get away from the danger but something in his tone made her throat catch.
James looked at the lion and eased his head down, slowly kissing the gap in between his eyes and nose several times, muttering comfort to him after each one.
The others had a slight suspicion that this was much more than a random lion in the middle of the English countryside. This suspicion was only confirmed as the lion shrank into a boy they could only see a bit of, as he immediately buried his face in James’ neck and collapsed on top of him, muttering and sobbing as he did. The boy let James sit them both up and wrap his arms loose around him in an act of comfort.
“Sirius, let’s go, I think James need some time with-”
Sirius spun around and glared. “No! I want to know who it-”
Euphemia gave him a knowing glance and led him from the room, leaving the two boys alone.
James tightened his grip on Regulus’ hips as he pulled away from his shoulder and opened his eyes, tears having clumped up his lashes.
“I’m sorry, I had to see you. I really missed you.”
James let his eyes fall shut as he rested their foreheads together and smiled.
“I really missed you, too.”
And in that moment, that was all that mattered.