The Delphi Strawberry Service Van
“This isn’t your car,” Sirius hissed as he slid into the passenger seat of the pink van that James was behind the wheel of. “What the fuck is the Delphi Strawberry Service?”
James was not in his usual bright yellow bug - which was technically his mother’s but James could get away with stealing it sometimes. Instead, James was driving a white van with ‘Delphi Strawberry Service’ written on the side in bright pink letters.
Over the stereo, Taylor Swift was playing quietly, and when Sirius caught onto what song was playing he snorted;
You were drivin' the getaway car
We were flyin', but we'd never get far
“Remember when I said I had a summer job?” James scratched the back of his neck, laughing at the thought. Sirius had to refocus himself on the conversation.
“Yeah as a summer camp counselor!” Sirius waved his arms, “Not as the CEO of a goddamn Strawbery Company.”
“Hey a vehicle is a vehicle,” James shrugged, “and your lucky, I came and picked you up. My phone could have been on silent.”
“Your phone doesn’t have a silent mode it’s so old,” Sirius snorted, twisting around to see into the back where Regulus was curled up against the window. “You alright Reggie?”
The smaller boy nodded and pressed his forehead onto the pane of glass.
Sirius could tell he was nervous away from home, but Sirius also knew that if they stayed any longer it would only be more trouble. And even if they did call the police about the boys being run away Sirius would be able to run his mouth enough so that it would just be him in trouble and not Regulus.
“Want to tell me what happened?” James asked, shifting the car into drive and slowly pulling away from where he’d parked on the curb.
Sirius shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest like a small child. “Orion was mad… I just didn’t feel like taking that bullshit from him anymore.”
“Did he hit you again,” James said quietly.
Sirius opened his mouth to answer but it was Regulus’ tiny voice that answered him, “He always hits Sirius…”
“Oh,” James popped his lips together, James was always strange around Regulus, even though they’d only met a handful of times. Sirius thought it was because he was so incredibly blunt and mature for his age, and James was… not. “I’m glad you two are safe now.”
“Thanks for getting us Jamie,” Sirius smiled gently, reaching out to touch James’ arm softly. “Are we going back to your place?”
“For a little while ye-” James stopped mid-sentence as they came to a stop at a red light. “Shit…”
“What?” Sirius and Regulus said together, following James’ line of sight to a nearby bus stop where three old ladies were knitting. They were holding a thick spool of yarn in between them, which was a bright red.
“Oh, shit shit shit,” James fumbled for his phone, clicking a few numbers in before putting the device to his ear.
“The fates are here,” James said quickly, he sat up a bit straighter as a police curser drove through the green light in the opposite direction.
Sirius had no idea who was on the other line but whoever it was they were talking loud enough across the line that James had to hold the phone away from his ear.
“Yeah! I don’t know do I bring them-” James winced and Sirius heard another voice yelling on the other side. “Okay okay relax! I’ll ask and call you back.” He hung up the phone just as the light turned green and drove very slowly past the bus stop, watching the old ladies very closely.
Sirius saw the lady in the middle pull out a very large pair of gold scissors and cut the piece of yarn in half. James winced and began to speed the car up.
“What's going on?” Regulus asked what Sirius was thinking.
James opened and closed his mouth quickly, hopping on the interstate to go toward Long Island. “Hey, Regulus?”
“Mhm?” he hummed from the backseat.
“Uh… I don’t know how to say this without being insensitive but do you know your father?”
Sirius choked on a breath of air. “James, what the fuck?”
“I just need to know! Do you know if you have the same father or not Sirius?”
“Mother would never talk about it,” Sirius stumbled over his words, James was moving really fast now.
“Shit okay,” James fumbled for his phone, “take this and dial Lily.”
“Evans?” Sirius questioned, but just as he did James served on the road and Regulus yelped.
“Potter, what the fuck was that?” Regulus squeaked and Sirius fumbled with the buttons on James’ flip phone, if James wanted Lily then fine. The radio began to flicker out and Sirius got an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Run fast for your mother- crackle - r your father
Run for - crackle - ers and brothers
Leave all your love - crackle - behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive-
The radio cut out and James muttered something about… Apollo?
“Sirius hang onto something,” James flinched, slamming the wheel to the right and throwing the car across the freeway.
He let out a yelp and gripped the side of the door, pressing the call button for Lily Evans and putting the phone up to his ear.
“James?” Lily’s voice came across the speaker it was coming in and out much like the radio had been a moment ago.
“Hi Evans, want to explain why…” Sirius trailed off as he watched the speedometer rise to ninety-five, and a black shadow moved in the corner of his eye out the window. “James what the fuck is that?!”
“Sirius focus on me! Tell James to get his ass to camp now!”
“Uh, James? Evans says to go to camp?”
“I know Lily!” James yelled back and Regulus screeched in the backseat again. “Sirius hang up the phone now! Now now now!”
“Listen to him, Sirius!” Lily said at the same time, “I’ll see you soon!”
The phone was thrown out of his hand as James swerved and cursed again. He hoped it had landed on the hang-up button…
“James, what’s happening?” Sirius asked again, now noticing that it had begun to rain - which was odd only because it had been a clear night only moments ago.
James bit his lip and began to move even faster down the road, and the shadow seemed to follow them. “Regulus, can you lift up that tarp on the floor of the backseat? There's a bow under it, I need you to hand it to Sirius.”
“A bow?” Sirius questioned, feeling a million questions bubble up in his throat. “James, what is happening?”
James glanced over his shoulder, “Okay well… you know the Greek gods?”
“Those weirdos that we learned about at the museum?” Sirius had no idea how that was relevant to the current situation. A clap of thunder and an unusually large streak of lightning came across the sky, James flinched and glances over his shoulder again.
“Oh for the Gods sake,” James groaned. “Sirius don’t disrespect them please, I’ve got enough to deal with the fucking monsters.”
“Monsters?” Sirius and Regulus chorused at once, and another strike of lightning tore across the sky.
“Yeah! Alright listen for a second here,” James slowed the car down slightly, Sirius glanced out the window and noticed the shadow had stopped tailing them. “But first Regulus gives James the bow, there are arrows in the glove box. You’ve seen the hunger games yes?”
Sirius blinked at his best friend for a moment as he heard Regulus fumble around in the backseat before passing a dark yellow compound bow. Was James being serious right now?
“Yes I’ve seen the hunger games but I’m not fucking Katniss Everdeen!” Sirius exclaimed, taking the bow nonetheless and opening the glovebox to find a quiver filled with arrows.
“You’d be prim,” Regulus snorted from the backseat.
“I would not - I’d volunteer for you in a heartbeat! Now I believe James was explaining why we’re being chased by monsters?”
“Oh yes right I’d like to know that as well,” Regulus leaned forward so his head was between James and Sirius over the center console.
“I suppose I’ll be blunt then,” James grinned somewhat manically, “The Gods are real, Sirius you’re one of their children, and Regulus I assume you are as well but I’m not sure. I’m taking you to a camp where you’ll be safe, and we can go from there.”
Sirius’ deadbeat father was a god…? SIRIUS’ DEADBEAT FATHER WAS A GOD! Well James was telling him he was the son of the god, which could be an elaborate prank…
Regulus was the first one to speak - his brain always tended to slow down faster than Sirius’ did.
“The Greek Gods? Like Zeus and Hades?”
“Yes,” James nodded, changing lanes.
“Who are you then?”
Oh… OH, James was probably the son of a god too!! This was crazy, definitely the craziest thing that had ever happened to Sirius. But it did make sense right…? The exploding water bottles, the fountain, the math teacher demon…
“Apollo,” James replied, a smile sliding onto his lips. “Thus the bow and arrows.”
“Do something magic,” Sirius said quickly, “If you’re really a god-son or whatever.”
“Demigod,” James corrected quickly, veering off to the side to exit the freeway. “And um, I can’t really do much… I’m really fucking good at archery and healing. I can kind of do this glowy thing…”
“Glowy thing?” Sirius asked, could he glow? Like the sun? He always said James was like the sun.
James crewed his lips and seemed to concentrate for a moment before a soft yellow glow filled the area around him.
“So you’re Rapunzel then?” Regulus smirked, and Sirius did a double take when he thought he saw a slight pink tint blooming across his cheeks.
“Kinda,” James chuckled, “I promise we’ll explain it better when we get to camp but ever since the bolt went missing everyone’s been on edge and I don’t like the monster chase that happened back there.”
“The bolt?” Sirius questioned.
“Yeah Zeus’ lightning-” The car jolted to the left and all three boys yelped. Sirius whacked his head on the headrest and James looked to have hit his head on the window. There was a light ringing in his ears when he tuned back in and realized the van was in the ditch on the opposite side of the road and across the street was a large shadow.
Monster. Yeah, that would probably be the monster James had been talking about.
“Fuck,” Sirius groaned, “Reggie? You okay back there?”
No answer.
“Regulus?” Sirius asked again, this time a slight tremble running down his spine.
“I’m fine,” Regulus whispered, his voice coming from the floor of the backseat. “Sirius, what’s outside?”
“Nothing that’s going to hurt you Reg,” Sirius pressed his lips together, eyeing the bow and arrows now on the floor by his feet. He knew the basic idea of how to use them, hold the bow in his left hand, take the string, and draw back before aiming and letting go. “James?”
“Hmm?” James groaned, lifting his head up slightly. His eyes went wide quickly and he fumbled with the seatbelt. “Sirius give me the bow.”
Sirius nodded and shifted in his seat so he could pass the bow and a handful of arrows to his friend, “James what is that?” Sirius nodded to the massive shadow standing in the rain.
“Hopefully not what I think it is,” James winced, “when I say so I need you to take Regulus and run. Do you see that willow up on the hill? Get past that tree and you’ll be okay alright?”
“Is camp past the tree?” Sirius asked, he was struggling to keep his voice steady. James nodded. “And Regulus and I will be safe there?”
James sucked in a sharp breath, “You will be… if Regulus isn’t a demigod…”
“James it’s coming closer,” Regulus whispered from the back, and Sirius fought the urge to throw up. He wouldn’t leave his baby brother out here with that… thing. No way in hell. Was hell real? What about Hades? Sirius needed to make a mental list of questions for James later.
“Get out of the car,” James said quietly, slowly slipping one of the arrows into the bow.
Sirius hesitated but opened the door softly - not that one would be able to hear it over the deafening sound of rain - Regulus did the same. Another strike of lightning illuminated a huge figure across the street, Sirius thought his brain must be tricking him when he saw the largest man he’d ever seen, but he had what seemed like goat legs and huge horns growing out of his head. Then of course he remembered that his best friend had just told him he was a demigod and glowed like a fucking Disney princess - so maybe this wasn't too far-fetched.
He took Regulus' hand and couched down as an arrow whizzed by his ear, James was kneeling in the passenger seat with his bow in hand. This caught the monster's attention, and it turned to the three boys before letting out a blood-curdling roar and charging toward them.
“Oh shit shit shit,” Siirus panicked, moving his body so that he would shield Regulus, who squirmed and popped his head out to see what was happening.
“That's a mi-” James let another arrow fly at the creature.
“Don’t say it Regulus,” James warned as he knocked another arrow. “Names have a lot of power here…”
“How do you know what that thing is?” Sirius asked his little brother, momentarily forgetting he was about to be trampled by the half-bull man.
“I pay attention in school,” Regulus snarked.
“Run! Now run!” James leaped from the van, leaving it abandoned in the ditch as he grasped Regulus’ little hand and dragged him and Sirius toward the willow up the hill.
They zig-zagged the whole way up and the monster couldn’t seem to catch up. Until he did.
Sirius felt a hand on the back of his neck and for a moment muscle memory told him it was just his mother - which in hindsight wasn’t much better.
“Sirius!” Regulus squealed, and he saw him try to pull away from James’ grip. But James was a good three inches taller than Regulus and there was no way.
Reality hit Sirius very quickly when he turned his head to see the head of a bull right behind him. He yelped and jumped into action, he was a few feet in the air where the monster was holding him. He was looking curiously between Regulus and Sirius - was it confused? I mean Regulus and Sirius did look extremely similar - the only difference being their eyes. Sirius had turquoise eyes, which were bright and had threads of green running through them, and Regulus had much darker eyes, sometimes they were almost black, but if you saw them in the correct lighting then he could see the midnight blue they really were.
An arrow zoomed past his ear and bounced off the monster’s horn. Sirius squirmed and reached up to grab hold of the horn himself, James continued to shoot at the creature and Sirius yanked at the bone protruding from its head.
There was a sicking crack and the horn came clean off its head. The monster dropped Sirius and he crawled away towards James and Regulus - who was not free from James’ grip and met him halfway in a hug.
“Let's go, let’s go!” James ordered, his voice barely audible over the pouring rain. Sirius scrambled to get up, regulus offered a hand and Sirius went to grab it before Regulus was lifted off the ground much like Sirius just had been.
“Reggie!” Sirius screamed, he gripped the horn of the monster tighter in his hand and forced his body up off the grass. He was not going to lose him. Fuck whether or not he was a demigod. He would come into whatever camp they were on the doorstep of and they would be safe. Safe from monsters, safe from Orion and Walburga, safe from the whole world. And they would do it together. They did everything together…
James shot at the monster again and hit its leg, he was then kicked in the head by the creature and went down. Sirius could make out a dark red substance rushing from a deep cut in his head, shit.
Relying on only the adrenaline rushing through his veins Sirius ran at the monster, his detached horn raised for the attack, and he drove it into its stomach - which is the highest Sirius could reach at only thirteen years old. He expected him to drop his little brother and maybe burst into dust like Carrow had earlier that day. But no, of course, he didn’t. Sirius didn’t have good luck.
The monster did in fact burst into golden dust, leaving this world with a massive roar which made Sirius fall back onto the wet grass with a thump.
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t.
Regulus was gone. His baby brother - his reason for sticking around his home for so long, the light of his goddamn life, his little baby lionheart - was gone.
Sirius threw up.
Then he got up, much like a robot who’d been programmed to do something, he walked over to James’ body and shook him awake. He tried to ask Sirius questions but Sirius couldn’t open his mouth to respond. He couldn’t.
He and James made it over the ‘line’ past the willow tree, and the rain stopped. A wave of calm warm summer air ashed over the boys. Sirius was vaguely aware of James directing him to a farmhouse, and when they got there they collapsed. James was hurt. And Sirius just couldn’t.
He couldn’t.
Regulus was gone.
☪
“Is he alright?” the blonde one asked softly, kneeling by his ear.
“He’s alive,” the other angel mused, a hint of exhaustion pulling at his voice.
Fuck he was beautiful. A boy with mousy brown hair, a large smattering of freckles across his face, and a pair of golden wings sprouting from his back.
“Is he the one James?” the blonde one asked again.
“I think so… Minnie says we can’t know unless he actually claims him,” Sirius knew that voice…
“Pft,” the angel snorted. “So we’ll never know then.”
“Oh don’t be sour Lupin,” a new voice chuckled. “You’ll get claimed eventually.”
“Says you,” the angel spit out. He wasn’t a very nice angel, was he?
“Oh, he’s waking up!” The Blonde one moved her eyes to see him. Everything became a bit more clear now.
“Sirius!” a body threw itself at him. “Oh thank the fucking gods.”
“Hi James,” Sirius smiled weakly, his body felt as if he’d been hit by a bus. Had he? He couldn’t remember.
“Oh yay,” the boy Sirius had previously seen with a pair of golden angel wings rolled his eyes. “Pretty boys awake.”
“Oh leave him alone Remus,” the blonde girl hissed gently.
Remus. A pretty name for a pretty boy.
Oh fuck. What had they given Sirius? Normally he could ignore feelings like these.
“Where am I exactly,” Sirius pushed himself up onto his elbows, taking in the scene around him.
Three people were settled around him, James was sitting on the edge of the bed, his legs crossed and his hands clasped in his lap. A blonde girl was standing to his left, she had a choppy haircut which Sirius loved, and beside her was a girl with curly black hair and a vacant expression and something about her that Sirius truly didn’t like.
On his right, however… the angel from his room stood there, no less beautiful than he’d been in his slightly unconscious state. Remus had a smattering of freckles on his nose and across his cheekbones, he was decently tan, with wavy mouse-brown hair, and a few thin white lines across the bridge of his nose and down his jaw. He was perfect…
“Welcome to Camp Half-Blood Sirius,” James opened his arms and gestured to the room around him. “The infirmary in particular at the moment.”
Sirius nodded slowly, the memory from the night before on the edge of his brain.
He also started to notice similarities between all of the kids, they each wore an orange tee shirt with black writing on them, a different number, and the word ‘councilor.’
“Nice to meet you all then,” Sirius smiled, his mind still lingering on the events of the night before. He was missing something…
“I’m Marlene,” the blonde girl with cool hair stuck her hand out. Sirius took it quickly and took note that she had a very firm grip.
“I’m Bella,” the curly-haired girl stated, not offering a hand to Sirius at all, but instead giving him a pointed glare. It looked awfully familiar…
“Remus,” he stuck a hand out for Sirius to shake, and Sirius took it happily. He had a light southern drawl, his voice sounded like honey…
“You seem much better now, I think the exposure and how fast everything went wore you out quite badly…” James smiled tightly, he wasn’t saying something.
Realization washed over Sirius slowly as he looked around the room once more, staring at the two empty beds beside him on either side. No… where was he? That part had to have been a dream.
“Where Regulus?”
The look James gave him was all it took to send Sirius into tears.