Chapter Text
Weeks passed without any further discussion between Regulus and his coaches about anything other than training. He wasn’t sure if they’d allowed him to throw himself in for his benefit or for theirs. Perhaps there was genuinely nothing to say or do on the subjects previously broached.
That was until one night, when at half one in the morning, Perenelle texted him to meet her outside of the flat he shared with Sirius. He only knew because Sirius had been awake, and she’d rung before she’d texted.
It didn’t take Regulus long after waking up to get dressed and hurl himself all the way down to street level, even though this did involve literally catapulting down several sets of stairs instead of walking or even running.
“Good, I was concerned I would have to come fetch you.”
“I would appreciate an explanation,” Regulus took great care not to betray how breathless he actually felt. Instead, he focused on ensuring his breathing was absolutely, entirely perfectly steady. Perenelle’s grip on the steering wheel was, after all, her only tell of tenseness.
“Nicolas has retrieved young Mr Rosier. I thought it might go slightly better if you could explain for him.”
“Did Nicolas kidnap Evan?” Regulus asked after a long moment, and Perenelle shrugged with a slight huff. “Did Nicolas have someone kidnap Evan?”
“Yes. It was… messy.”
“Yes, I expect it was,” Regulus wasn’t sure he’d ever sounded quite so British, but the shock had him pulling on his mother’s composure to try and hide any and all emotions that he might need to process. He couldn’t very well feel and process emotions, after all.
“He’s mostly unharmed. Evan, that is.”
“Fantastic,” Regulus’ tone indicated his extreme displeasure for him–no effort needed to be made on facial expressions.
Perenelle kindly left it there.
Evan looked like a cornered, wounded animal. It was an unkind comparison considering how frequently Regulus had to be talked down from similar positions, but usually Regulus wasn’t threatening people three times his age who were merely sat on their sofa. The instant Regulus entered the room, though, Evan fell back from the defensive position.
“Regulus?”
“C’est bon, Evan,” Regulus murmured. “I asked Nicolas to retrieve you.”
“It was Greyback.”
“Quoi?”
“Greyback retrieved me.”
“Nicolas, you do not have a friend, you have someone who takes everyone’s money.”
“Je sais ça,” Nicolas replied without a single ounce of regret or a moment of hesitation.
“Do you know about his preference for children?”
“Non,” Nicolas admittedly didn’t hesitate over this, either. “I did not. Rest assured, I will not employ him again. Against anyone.”
“Very good,” Regulus gave an absent acknowledgement, as he headed for Evan. “Are you terribly hurt?”
“Non,” Evan admitted after a long moment. Only then did Regulus attempt to take the knife Evan was holding as a lifeline. Evan handed it over without hesitation. “It was light and just a grab. I thought it was, you know. A typical grab. For money.”
“It was,” Regulus replied. “Just not for the usual employers. That is my fault, I should have told you I told Nicolas that you didn’t belong in le Milieu. It is my fault for asking.”
Evan’s brow furrowed.
“I will be coaching you, for La France,” Nicolas declared. “I have paid off your father never to contact you without you initiating first.”
Evan looked at Regulus with a slightly betrayed look for the briefest of moments, which Regulus thought might have been his imagination, but when Evan spoke again, it was with a tinge of hurt: “I would have liked to be consulted.”
“I apologise, Evan, sincerely. I did not know what Nicolas planned.”
“I apologise as well. I acted with haste to ensure it did not jeopardise you. I apologise for not including you,” Nicolas murmured, and after a long moment, Evan nodded firmly. From an outside perspective, it was a conscious decision to disregard the origin of his current circumstances. “Will you accept my offer, Mr Rosier?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Bien sur–of course you do!” Nicolas looked horrified. “You can choose anyone else, or to not compete, I would not hold it against you.”
“I will compete for you, Monsieur Flamel,” Evan murmured after a long moment. “Regulus trusts both of you, and I trust Regulus. I will therefore trust in you not to mislead me on this matter. Even if it is an unconventional means of acquisition.”
Nicolas looked outright sheepish. “Je suis profondément désolé,” Nicolas murmured. “I had not considered the… consequences. I will, going forward. Regulus, perhaps you would be so kind as to stay the night, to help ensure Evan can be comfortable? Or we can take you back to your flat…?”
“This was not planned at all, was it, Nicolas?” Regulus’ fear broke into outright amusement, because Nicolas looked like he was at such a loss.
“Non, non,” Nicolas admitted. “But we are here now, non?”
“Evidemment,” Regulus murmured. “Evan?”
“Wherever you prefer.”
It was an immediate non-question. Even if they didn’t always get on, Regulus’ response would always be at home with Sirius. They were even let off for the next week of training, which had Regulus on edge, but Evan merely looked grateful for the adjustment time.
Sirius was sitting up. Regulus probably should have texted, but he was a bit busy doing the wound care that Evan had refused to let Nicolas do. From Regulus’ perspective, this had been an entirely reasonable decision.
“Oh. Hiya, Evan,” Sirius looked beyond uncomfortable as Regulus dragged a slightly bloody, bandaged Evan in to the sitting room. “What’s going on?”
“I was kidnapped. By Nicolas Flamel.”
“Nicolas had Greyback kidnap Evan.”
The two explanations came at precisely the same moment, and Sirius immediately closed his eyes and very visibly did the square breathing he was constantly trying to get Regulus to do.
“Right, so is there a plan?”
“I compete for La France with Nicolas training me,” Evan replied, with a slight shrug that had absolutely none of the concern he’d been displaying before Regulus had arrived.
“And are you both… reasonably unharmed? And unarmed?”
“Reasonably,” Regulus replied, and Sirius sighed, but nodded.
“Right. I’ll make tea. We’ll have a sleepover in here. Like when we were training together.”
It was true that Sirius, Regulus, and Evan had often been taken for multi-week intensives together as children, and had often slept on the floor because beds were often too soft after hitting the ice too many times in one day. Impact bruising often felt more painful with the uneven pressure of a soft surface.
“I will make up the sofa bed,” Regulus nodded emphatically, and beamed at the kiss that he received to his forehead from Sirius.
Sirius returned with a tea service and a pair of joggers and a clean t-shirt.
“You’re a bit broader than me, so these are my friend James’. You can shower if you want, after you have tea. With sugar, not optional,” Sirius sounded as if he was speaking about the weather. “I will even pretend not to notice if Regulus goes with you to do that.”
This garnered him a small smile from both Regulus and Evan.
Evan had quite a few more wounds than Regulus would ideally prefer him to have, but in the end, he hadn’t been more than lightly stabbed, and in his arm at that. A stab to the arm would do very little to actually hinder his ability to skate.
Sirius kindly didn’t comment on the fact that it looked like they’d spent far more time snogging than they had actually showering as they returned to the sitting room to settle in for the short remainder of the night. He did, however, look an unusual amount of relieved for the fact that Regulus was absolutely certain that Sirius usually disliked Regulus engaging in such activities.