Family traditions
Most people think of Fridays as crazy days. With the end of the weekdays, one could properly concentrate on partying, hanging out with friends and stop stressing over classes or work. But things were different for Regulus Black.
While almost everyone chose this as an opportunity to get drunk in a local pub and wake up in the middle of campus with a throbbing headache, Regulus had a family tradition.
One that had started the day his uncle Alphard got his custody. That day, as eleven-year-old Regulus got out of the courtroom through the main door, his parents were escorted out through the security door, handcuffed. Regulus had swallowed his tears and kept his head high, but broke down in tears when Sirius had jumped out of the uncomfortable hallway seat to hug him.
Things have been difficult ever since, but they have worked their way around it. Now, Regulus and Sirius were university students with a complicated relationship and little to none common interests. So family weekends transformed from a weekly meeting orchestrated by Alphard, Euphemia and Fleamont, into a family tradition that allowed them to keep in contact.
In the beginning Alphard and Regulus would visit the Potter Manor to have family dinners, have a little trip or do a fun activity together with Sirius and the Potters. They both had rooms in the house, so it wasn’t a big deal if they had to stay. It was during these times that Regulus had a revelation: he hated James Potter quite a bit. The boy had stolen his brother and he probably fitted that category better than he did.
It took him a while, but he made peace with the fact that his brother held a certain type of love for James that he would never be able to understand, one that crossed multiple limits of connection. And he was frankly quite jealous.
But the world works in funny ways. As his jealousy towards James decreased, his jealousy towards his brother increased. And, boy, was he confused.
That’s when Regulus understood something he had been fearing for years, James Potter had clearly been shooting arrows at his heart. See, there’s nothing particularly harming about James. But he has a secret weapon that keeps Regulus on his toes. He’s the owner of his heart.
Just like that, with one new revelation, family weekends have been ruined. Regulus started closing in on himself and everyone mostly blamed it on him growing up and hormonal changes, but Regulus knew and started despising James all over again.
Things settled for a while on James & Sirius’ first year in university. They couldn’t keep up with studies, social life, sports and family. But Regulus was very grateful as he spent most of that year creating a bond with Effie and Monty. He even lived with them the months Alphard had to leave the country for his job.
Once Regulus got into university, the same one as his brother and James, family weekends were a hard thing to give up, so he didn’t. And fast forward, Sirius and James joined again. And this time Regulus was prepared, he wasn’t that same naive boy in love he once was.
So a weekend home with Sirius and James again shouldn’t be that much of a pain in the ass, right?
Well, Regulus was about to find out.
(...)
It was weird ringing the door in a house he had the keys for, but he had grown accustomed to welcoming the house with Effie’s smile.
“My dear boy,” Effie says, opening her arms for a hug.
Once upon a time Regulus would have stood there uncomfortably, but Effie had basically seen him grow and he had a sweet spot for her. “Hey, Effie, how was your week?”
“Very good, dear. Monty got a new package though, he asked me to tell you to find him in the library, as soon as you got here.”
“Let’s not keep him waiting.”
With a joking smile, Regulus got inside the house and looked around as mesmerized as the first time. Eyes hungrily searching for every sign of life as he could. The pictures, the arrangement of unopened letters, the smell of homemade food, the bumps in the walls from the aggressive play shenanigans of two wild boys.
“Go ahead, Reggie. He’s truly impatient today.”
Laughing one last time, Regulus crossed the entrance towards the hallway. He walked to the only door with lights on he saw, the library, where Monty was walking excitedly, moving books from a couple of boxes into the shelves of the room.
“Need a hand over there?” Regulus joked after knocking at the door.
“Regulus,” Monty said grinning the same smile that his son had inherited and made Regulus swoon. “Thank God you’re her. Look at these new editions!”
Eager to see the promising new books, Regulus joined him in the organisation and the two continued arranging the pieces in between comments and recommendations until Effie called them over for dinner.
(...)
Regulus had dinner with Effie and Monty alone. James and Sirius would arrive tomorrow according to them and Regulus thanked every existing God for it, until Effie mentioned that the boys would be staying at Lily’s that night in a hangout with their friends.
Regulus had heard of Lily enough to know he didn’t want to meet her. He didn’t like thinking about it too much, because that made him realize that it was probably just childlike jealousy, but he couldn’t help it. He still remembered last Christmas when James came home swooning over one redhead girl he and Sirius had befriended. He had even heard him talk about bringing her home.
Back then Regulus had cried over his feelings for the first time and he promised himself to not let that happen, ever again. And when he was alone in his room, after dinner, Regulus felt that same heartbreak his younger self had already named Lily.
He decided that if he couldn’t work his feelings for James’ out, he would at least try to make something cathartic out of them. He took a clean notebook and grabbed a fountain pen, opening the first page.
Regulus’ Handbook for Getting Over James Potter.