Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

On the morning of March twenty-seventh, nineteen-sixty, just as the sun rose, casting its light and warmth upon the earth, Euphemia Potter gave birth to her first and only child. A son that Euphemia and her husband named James Fleamont Potter. Both of the new parents were overjoyed to have their son here with them after the years of trying and longing for a child of their own. The couple was even happier when they spotted the black squiggly line on James’ forearm. A squiggle that would later develop into words as the skin grows with the child’s body, causing the words describing what James’ soulmate will be doing when he first touches them to expand from squiggles into something legible.

The new parents both had many fond memories regarding the long and patient waiting process of meeting their soulmates. Or in Fleamont’s case, the chaotic process of trying to engineer situations that caused people to touch him while smelling chamomile. A process that involved shoving said flowers in more than one person’s face, only to find, or more actually, run into, Euphemia in a breakroom where she had been cradling a cup of chamomile tea under her nose while working at the same hospital he was commissioned to for some specialized potions.

It was a story that Fleamont took great pleasure in repeating to James, with all the dramatics a storyteller requires, as many times as his son requested it. With a sense of wonder only a child can produce twinkling in his honey-brown eyes as he stared at the little black squiggle on his arm with awe. Something he was prone to doing fairly frequently as he tried to catch the moment when slowly expanding squiggles turned into legible words.

Maybe if James hadn’t fixated on the idea of finding someone who completed him like the way his parents so clearly completed each other, then his childish attention span could have allowed him to jump from thought to thought without noticing anything amiss. Perhaps, had James been paying less attention, he wouldn’t have noticed that he could read his soulmark and would have been able to live in his peaceful bubble of happiness. Instead, James saw the exact second that the squiggles turned from illegible shapes to blurry letters and then proceeded to spend some unmeasured length of time guessing what each letter was based on the distinct shapes and trying to sound out the sentence he had been given to hint at where or how to find his soulmate.

He had deciphered the first three words easily enough. The fourth word wasn’t hard either, but it was a scary word that made his tiny heart race and his mind begin to panic. When he figured out the fifth and final word, the fearful tightness in his chest burst forward, taking the form of uncontrollable sobs. The heart-wrenching sound called his parents to his side like sailors at sea to a siren.

Offering the arm with his words, James found himself picked up by Fleamont, but Euphemia had realized that being picked up wasn’t what James had meant by offering his arm. He had only offered one arm, not both, and quite obviously, the action was missing the grabby hand motion he was so fond of making when requesting to be held. No, Euphemia’s son had offered the arm that his soulmark sat against his skin, unreadable. The only reason she could think of for such an action was the fact that James’ mark would be legible soon given his age, so what if it already was?

Dread pooled in Euphemia’s stomach as she took the arm James was still offering, even as he cried into Fleamont’s neck, and, sure enough, the mark was legible. All five words, while still a little blurry, were easy enough to read and understand, but oh, how she wished she hadn’t read those words, wished that James, with his too big, too soft heart, hadn’t read those words, hadn’t understood their meaning, even if he could only understand them in the vague sense of knowing what each word meant individually and could therefore put it together.

“Darling,” Euphemia called for her husband’s attention as her own eyes burned with unshed tears for the poor soul on the other end of her son’s bond. “Look.” She prompted, drawing Fleamont’s eyes away from his distressed child, up to his wife to see where she wanted him to turn his eyes to, only to find his gaze back on James. This time, he focused on his son’s arm where his soulmark sat, blurry but legible.

“Oh.” Comes the breath stolen from Fleamont’s lungs. “Oh, Jamie.” Fleamont tries to soothe after reading the words, because that is all either parent could do at the moment. Try to comfort their distressed son because there is no comfort for them to offer to an unknown soul that they can not reach and can not help.

“I’m sorry, Bambi.” Euphemia murmurs into messy curls. “I am so sorry.” She apologizes repeatedly while rubbing gentle circles into the mark on James’ forearm as if to soothe an actual wound, or perhaps in the hopes of smudging the letters to prove them fake.​​ Not that the words do smudge. Not even a little. They stay perfectly in place like any actual mark would. The words, They try to kill themself, resting mockingly against tan skin. Revealing to them the knowledge that the first time James meets his soulmate could also very well be the last, and that there is an entirely real possibility that their son might have to hold his other half as they take their last breath.

The Potter family stayed curled up in their sorrowful cuddle pile until James had cried himself to sleep, and only when the couple was sure that their son will not wake up immediately, does Euphemia leave their little bubble of mourning. She makes quick work, floo-calling an old work acquaintance from her time as a mediwitch to set up an appointment with a mind healer to come by Potter Manor the following day. Both to train Euphemia and Fleamont on how to take care of someone who is suicidal and also to have the mind healer talk with her son in the hopes that they could better explain why someone, his soulmate, would do something like what James’ mark claims, and what it could potentially mean for his future.

When James is older and has a better understanding of the situation, he will inevitably find himself in, he too, is trained in what to look for in concern of someone’s mental health and how to help, but for the most part, his monthly appointments with his mind healer are usually to talk about himself, because knowing the dread inducing knowledge of how he meets his soulmate isn’t good for his own mental health. Not that every appointment focuses on his soulmate or the words of his soulmark. Some sessions James will go the whole appointment without mentioning them, focusing on whatever else is actively going on in his life, but the topic of his other half was a rather common worry to bring up when James has to see the words, They try to kill themself, every time he changes or showers. He has to live with the knowledge that his other half not only wants to, but will also try to take their life by their own hand. The knowledge of such an event in his future created more than a few nightmares.

Unsurprisingly, James’ feelings regarding his soulmate were complicated at the best of times. Most people at Hogwarts attended all the social events hosted in the hopes of meeting their other half. James attended them because he was less likely to find his soulmate trying to kill themself in such a public and populated location.

A part of him, James admitted to his mind healer Jillian, wishes that he would never meet his soulmate, because if they never crossed paths, never touched, then maybe, just maybe, his soulmate would remain alive and well. A wish that Jillian claimed to be similar to the muggle thought experiment called Schrödinger’s cat. The cat that was both considered dead and alive until the box was opened to see which state the feline was in. Similar to James’ soulmate, who was alive out there, somewhere, and so long as he never meets them, never looks inside of the box to check, they will remain that way. The delusion of never meeting his soulmate was not one Jillian allowed him to live in for longer than it took to explain his thoughts and feelings on the idea. She was quick to remind him, as gently as she could without feeding him false platitudes, that he would meet his soulmate. Reminding James that it was an inevitability from the moment he was born with a little black squiggle on his arm. If he weren’t going to meet them, then his arm would have remained blank. Still, it was a nice thought that his other half could remain out there, alive, but out of reach.

Sighing, James trudged the last few steps up to his dorm room, pushing open the door without any genuine care, knowing that everyone inside would still be awake and therefore wouldn’t mind any sounds the door made.

“How was therapy?” Remus was the first to inquire as the door fell shut behind the missing marauder.

An inquiry that James answered by flopping onto his bed with a groan

“Oh, uh, not good then?” Peter asks while moving to sit up criss-cross on his bed. The notebook that he had been writing in was momentarily forgotten in favor of checking in on his friend.

A muffled complaint into James’ duvet was all they got in response from the bespectacled teen.

“Stop trying to suffocate yourself. We can’t understand you like that, and you know it.” Remus reminds him. Finally, looking up from his book to glance at his friend, trying to evaluate how much of a mental toll this session with the mind healer had taken on James.

With a tired groan, James rolled over onto his back, casting his, no doubt blurry, vision, given the fact that his glasses had fallen off when he had flopped onto the bed originally, to look around at each of his friends.

“Schrödinger’s cat.” James most likely repeated, as if that explained anything about how his session went.

“That,” Sirius began while pushing himself up, crawling out of his boyfriend’s lap, “tells us absolutely nothing.” He finished as he crossed the room to James’ bed. “And we are a dog household here.” The grim animagus tsked, draping himself over James like a weighted blanket.

“Jillian says that they’re like Schrödinger’s cat.” James grumbled at the ceiling while petting at raven curls.

“They who?” Peter prompted.

A question that James answered by holding up the arm that the marauders now know to have his soulmark, having seen it for the first time last year during their first transformation into his animagus form. Well, Remus and Sirius had seen it for the first time. Peter had already known where his soulmark was and what it said due to growing up with him.

“Ah,” Remus acknowledged with a knowing look, setting his book down in the space that was now empty of his boyfriend to indicate that this conversation had his full attention. “I supposed they are.”

“And for those of us among the uneducated population- who’s Schrödinger and what’s so important about his cat?” Sirius asked from where his chin was propped up on James’ chest.

Peter shrugged in response, also unaware of who the person or cat in question was. He looked at James for an explanation before deciding better of it and turned his attention to Remus, who had gotten the reference without needing an explanation.

“It’s a muggle thought experiment.” Remus explains. “In the experiment, a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive atom and a flask of poison. If, by chance, the radioactive atom decays, it breaks the flask and releases the poison, which would kill the cat. Since the cat’s fate is linked to a random subatomic event, the cat is both alive and dead until the box is opened.”

“Huh?” Sirius blinked at his boyfriend in confusion, earning a sigh from the werewolf.

“An oversimplification of it is that Schrödinger’s cat is sealed in a box, and is considered both dead and alive until the box is opened and you find out what state the cat is in.” Remus clarifies.

“Ah. Yeah that sounds about right.” Sirius agrees.

“Mhm. I can see why Jillian would make that comparison.” Peter states, grabbing his notebook to start writing once again.

“I hate it.” James grumbled while nudging Sirius off of himself so he could sit up and stretch. 

“Well, duh. It is referring to your soulmate.” Sirius reminded him, watching as James began to pace restlessly at the foot of the bed.

“You’re gonna go wandering again, aren’t you?” Remus sighed.

“Yeah, probably.” The bespeckle teen agreed while running a hand through his curls. “I might shower first, though. Do any of you need the bathroom?” He asked while gesturing to the door leading to the tiled room in question.

“Nah.”

“All yours.”

“Go ahead, mate.”

Gathering a comfortable set of clothes to change into after his shower, James disappeared into the bathroom. He turned on the water first, allowing the liquid to warm as he stripped out of his clothes, carelessly throwing them into the hamper before stepping behind the curtain used to trap the spray of liquid to one area. Steam poured off the hot water, filling the enclosed shower space as James ran a hand through his curls, tugging on them with unnecessary strength when he caught sight of his mark once more. If he spent a few extra seconds, or perhaps it was minutes, reading over the words he had memorized years ago, watching water droplets cut across the mark as the liquid glides over his skin, then that was no one’s business but his own.

When James emerged from the bathroom, hair still slightly damp as he patted it down with a towel, he found Remus and Sirius once again curled up together on Remus’ bed while the werewolf was quietly reading, and Peter still writing in his ever-present notebook. He looked up as James walked past to grab his cloak, silently asking if he wanted company for his wander around the castle by flicking his eyes from the cloak to the door and then back to James, but James shook his head in response, waving off his childhood friend’s concern as he draped the cloak around his shoulders. Once he slipped his shoes back on, James pulled up his hood and left the safety of their dorm room to brave the potential consequences of being caught out of bed by one of the staff members patrolling the halls.

About an hour or so into his mindless wandering was when James realized that he had forgotten to grab the map. It was a realization brought onto him by the fact that he was caught unaware by the sound of approaching footsteps reaching his ears. He immediately ducked into a nearby secret passageway to avoid being found, not caring that he wasn’t currently visible to the average passerby-er. There have been too many incidents of overly observant teachers almost running into him or grabbing at the air just shy of touching his cloak for James to think his invisibility fool proof.

Unfortunately, the lack of a map to tell him when the teacher passed the secret door he had used meant that he couldn’t just leave where he had entered, so it looked like his wandering path would take a bit of a detour. Following the hall to the other end brought James to the base of the astronomy tower. A place that was pretty much always empty of people because anyone who did sneak off to the astronomy tower was always heading to the top, not lingering at the bottom.

Since he was already here and stargazing was something that usually helped to calm his overly active mind, James decided that it wouldn’t hurt to head to the top of the tower. If it were unoccupied, then he could sit and watch the stars for a bit without risking being caught by a teacher like he would be by continuing to wander without the map. Decision made, James started up the stairs, silently counting the steps as he went, using the consistent rhythm and movement to ground himself, pausing only when he reached the top and found the door already open.

Normally James would turn around and leave if the door was already unlocked, because that meant some other student had snuck up to the astronomy tower for some alone time, usually with a partner, but occasionally it was too truly to be left alone and not just a secret randevú, but the fact that the door had been left open ever so slightly, like the person who used it last hadn’t bothered to do anything but step through and allow the door to fall wherever the hinges allowed was setting off alarm bells in James’ already spiraling brain.

Hesitantly, James pushed the door open, peering around the wood to see who was on the other side. If it was just an impatient couple that couldn’t be bothered to cover their tracks then he would gladly turn around and leave, taking the gossip back with him to share with the girls at a later date, who were always quick to dish out their own scandalous discoveries, but if it was someone sitting on their own, he would have to at least warn them against leaving the door so obviously open if they want a moment of privacy. Then he saw what was actually happening on the other side of the door, and his heart started working overtime as he realized that this wasn’t a couple or someone wanting to be left alone. His brain slowly categorizing the information of a person standing in the window who had yet to notice they weren’t alone, to the fact that the person was standing dangerously close to the edge, to how they were leaning too far forward and would fall if they weren’t careful, to the realization that they weren’t going to fall. No. Not fall. They were going to jump.

This was one of his nightmares playing out in real time.

Panic took hold of his body, causing James to move from the doorway to the window in the blink of an eye. Grabbing hold of the would be jumper to yank them out of the window, pulling far too hard considering how it sends both of them falling to the cold stone floor. Most likely gaining a few new bruises from the impact. Not that James cared at the moment. No. All he cared about was the person who was shaking in his lap, who was letting out a strangled sound that James couldn’t differentiate from a cry or a gasp of air, and the burning sensation coming from the arm warped around their waist where they were touching skin-to-skin due to the fact that the would be jumper’s shirt riding up. He didn’t even need to check the burning arm to know what the sensation meant. To know that the five word sentence on his arm would be gone, and in its place would be the name of the person in his lap.

“I got you.” James choked out in realization, because he has them, his soulmate, here, alive in his arms. James has them, and there is no way he is letting them go, not when he’s spent the past decade thinking he would find his other half just in time to lose them.

Those words only seem to distress his soulmate, who began struggling in his lap, and for one horrifying moment James thinks they’re trying to get back to the window to jump, but they were thankfully only trying to turn around. Their damp face pressed into James’ neck as their sobs shook their frame, causing their hot breath to fan across his skin.

“I got you.” James repeats into the crown of their head, because he couldn’t say that it’s okay. Nothing about this situation was okay, but James has them, and he’s not going to let them go.

Each sob James hears felt like a knife being lodged into his heart. Every broken gasp twisting the blade as his soulmate struggles to breathe through their sobs. James knows he’s crying too, has tears of his own running down his cheeks, silent in comparison to the distressed sounds his soulmate was making, but he was definitely crying. Whether the tears were those of distress or relief, he’s not entirely sure. Maybe it was both. Distress at having just witnessed his soulmate trying to kill themself. Relief that their meeting didn’t seem like it was going to end the way he’s always feared it would end, with his soulmate dead in his arms.

When the crying, the gasping, the shaking, all finally stops after who knows how long, it scares him more than anything else, because James’ first thought isn’t that they’ve finally calmed down, it’s whether his soulmate took something, some amount of potions or drugs, before coming up here. It was the thought that maybe he was wrong and they would end up dying in his arms after all, but the fact that he could still feel the warm puffs of air each breath made against his neck kept him from spiraling.

They were still breathing.

They were alive.

He has them.

Breathing out a calming breath, James loosened his bruisingly tight hold. Not by much, but enough to allow his soulmate to pull away and let James see their face, but didn’t let them go any farther, because he refuses to let them run before they’ve had the chance to talk.

It took a few more minutes of soothing for them to be calm enough to pull away from the comfort James was providing, but once they did, his hazel-brown eyes were able to meet their own far too familiar grey ones. Curly black hair, that has always been perfectly groomed and styled, was now a mess from the number of times that James had run his hand through it. There was an unfamiliar constellation of freckles against otherwise flawless porcelain skin that James would swear to never having seen before. His lips were bitten bloody and parted ever so slightly in shock when he too recognized James now that they were face to face.

“Regulus?” James chokes out, half because of shock, half because he was still crying silent tears of his own.

The boy in question quickly snapped his mouth shut. All of his emotions practically melting off of his face into a blank mask. The only tell being the clench of his jaw and the rather obvious way he was trying to push James away.

“Let me go, Potter.” Regulus ordered in what was most likely supposed to be a stern voice, but it came out breathy and with far too many cracks in it.

“No,” James denied immediately. Tightening his hold so that the failed attempts to escape continued to be just that, failed attempts. He didn’t bother trying to pull Regulus back to his chest, not wanting to invade the other boy’s space more than he already was, but he wasn’t going to risk letting him go either. “I’m not letting you leave until we’ve at least talked.”

“You’ve talked. I’m talking. Therefore, we’ve talked.” Regulus snipped. “Now let me go.”

“No! Regulus, please. Can’t we talk about this?” James begged, because he was not above begging if it meant keeping his other half. “Even if we weren’t bonded, you tried to jump! I can’t let you just leave after that.” He tries to reason. “We should at least go talk to Madam Pomfrey-”

“Leave me out of your golden-boy heroics and let me go!” Regulus hissed, giving a particularly harsh shove that does nothing but rock them slightly, because while they are both athletes, James has the bulkier build of a chaser, and Regulus the slim build of a seeker. “Can’t you ever mind your own business!”

“I promise I’m not playing at being a hero! I just- I can’t leave this be.” James tries to reassure the other boy. “Please! Just talk to me. I can’t just-” James cuts himself off with a frustrated sound. “I need something, Regulus. Anything really, just something so I know that letting you go isn’t me signing your death.” His eyes meet those of his soulmate’s once more. “I’ve known that you’ve wanted to die, that you were going to try to die, since I was five years old, Regulus. Five! Do you know what that’s like? I didn’t know the hows or the whys. Only that one day I would find you trying to die somewhere- maybe bleeding out, maybe drowning, or hanging, or overdosing, or jumping- That’s all I’ve ever known! Not if I make it in time to save you or if you would die in my arms, so please- please, I need something.” James begged, choking on his own tears once more.

Rapid blinking clears up some of the blurriness, and it was only then that James realized that at some point during his pleading, the hands that Regulus had been using to push him away had switched to clenching into his robes. When their eyes meet, neither of them bothers to break the contact. Both wizards find it impossible to look away. There was too much about this moment in time that was raw, like an open wound. Too much about their other half that required their attention. Too many emotions built up into a suffocating pressure that needed to go somewhere.

The somewhere in question ended up being through their soulbond that was still fresh and settling. Still burning ever so slightly, grounding, not painful. Their magic was buzzing anxiously, reaching for the matching half that fit oh so perfectly with its own.

It was too much.

It wasn’t enough.

“Stay, please.” James croaked once more.

When the younger teen sighed in response, it was in a way that seemed to drain whatever energy, whatever fight, Regulus had left. Tipping forward back into the safety of James’ chest, Regulus once again hid his face in the crook of his soulmate’s neck. Breathing out a choked breath, James let the relief he was feeling flood through him, washing away a small portion of the tension and dread that had been building.

The bonded pair sat in the quiet for a while, just holding each other before Regulus finally spoke.

“What did it say?” Regulus asked in what was perhaps the softest tone James had ever heard from the other teen.

“My mark?” James checked, and when he felt the nod against his shoulder, he continued. “They try to kill themself.”

Regulus hummed in acknowledgement, letting the answer hang in the air between them. His hands clenching and unclenching around the fabric he had taken hold of during James’ begging. It was clearly an anxious habit, but it was one not all that dissimilar to that of a cat needing at something, reminding James of the earlier comparison of his, unknown at the time, soulmate and the muggle thought experiment.

“They save you.” Regulus breathes out like a secret that could be carried away on the wind, bringing James out of his wandering thoughts. “That was mine.” The Black heir explained. “They save you…I had always assumed it meant from that house or from those people, but I suppose this counts as well, doesn’t it?” Regulus chuckled humorlessly, rolling his head to the side to allow it to rest on James’ shoulder instead of against his neck. Their eyes meeting once again, drawing James in only for the words Regulus had been saying to snap him back to attention.

There was only one reason that Regulus would think something along those lines, and oh how James hates it. Dead filling the bespeckle teen once more, but this time for a completely different reason.

“Regulus- how bad did it get after Sirius left? Do you need help getting out?” James asked slowly, cautiously. Testing that waters of what the younger Black brother would allow.

For a second, James thought that Regulus wouldn’t answer, especially when he looked away, looking back at the window he had tried to jump out of. The thought that jumping seemed more appealing than answering his question crossed his mind, so he instinctively pulled his other half closer, even if there already wasn’t any space between them.

“It was-” Regulus paused, trying to find the right words to say. “I can’t go back there again.” Is what Regulus ends up quietly admitting, still looking out the window. “This was my attempt to get away.”

“Oh.” The single word filled with dread and understanding. “Okay.” James breathes. “That’s- no, okay. Two things.” He decides, nudging Regulus until he looks at him. “One, you’re not going to try again. If you want to, or get the urge to, then you come find me. I don’t care what I’m doing or who I’m with, you’re more important.” At Regulus’s scoff, James doubles down. “You are. You’re important, as my soulmate, as a person, as my best friend’s little brother- you are important, so if you can’t keep yourself alive, if the thing putting you in danger is yourself, then you come find me, you let me help. Okay?”

“And then what? You’ll simply drop whatever it is you’re doing? Leave whoever it is you’re with?” Regulus questions with narrowed eyes instead of agreeing. The disbelief is more than evident in his tone. “Even if you’re helping someone else? Even if you’re helping my brother?”

“Yes, because I can ask someone else to help them, but no one else can help you.” James answers honestly, knowing that this is a test; knowing what it would mean if he messed this up.

Predictably, he receives another scoff and a shove in response, but all it does is rock them in place once more.

“I have other people I can go to. I have friends.” Regulus hisses, doing his best to ignore the guilt at the reminder of the people he tried to leave behind.

“You do. I’ve seen you with them. I’m sure they’re wonderful friends.” James agrees, trying to reassure his other half. “But they can’t help the same way I can.” Seeing Regulus open his mouth to protest, he rushes to continue. “There’s a reason that soulmates can get custody of their other half if they’re declared a danger to themselves or others.”

The wide eyed rapid blink of stormy gray eyes James gets would have been cute if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes were still rimmed red with irritation and a little watery. A reminder of the fact that not much time had passed since the younger teen had been sobbing in his arms. Not that he needed the reminder. This was probably a night that James could never forget, no matter how well or horribly it ends.

“You can get custody of your soulmate?” Regulus asks incredulously.

“Yes, because having physical contact with your bonded helps to regulate each other’s emotions and magic. Even just being near the other has a calming effect.” James explains. “Which brings me to the second thing. I can get custody of you if you’d like, and then you wouldn’t have to go back. All we have to do is have a mind healer sign off on a few things, and you’ll be legally required to stay with me until the healer deems it safe for you to be on your own.”

“... You’ve thought this through.” Regulus realized, confused. “How? You knew nothing of the situation the person on the other side of your mark would be in.”

“Which is why my parents and I looked into all laws regarding soulmates. Any of the ones that could remove them from an unsafe environment or get them medical help was noted down and memorized years ago.” James informs him, offering a small smile even as Regulus continues to frown, clearly tossing the idea around in his head. The thought process was almost visible despite the blank expression Regulus was wearing.

“No mind healer would sign off on something declaring the heir of House Black a mental case. They would never allow it.” Regulus points out with pursed lips. “Any mind healer who would agree with that assessment of me would be removed swiftly.” He warns.

“Then it’s a good thing there’s a mind healer with evidence that you’re a danger to yourself.” James offers with a grin. “I’ve been seeing one for years, and my mark—the way I would meet you—is in my file. We’d have to wait until next month to get the evaluation done since I only see her once a month, and I literally just had an appointment, but there are ways and people willing to help, Regulus. You just have to let us.” 

Regulus still looked skeptical of the whole idea, but the fact that he was even pretending to entertain it was better than James could hope for given the Black heir’s well known stubborn streak.

“And what is to stop you from being forced to stay with me instead of the other way around? It could easily be argued that staying in that house, with them, would be beneficial for my mental health, so you would need to come to me instead of me going to you at an unknown location with unknown people.” Regulus inquires.

“Recommendations can be made of where we’d stay and with who.” James admits slowly, careful to acknowledge the valid concerns and worries. “But they’d be just that, recommendations. I would have final say in your care.” He reassured him.

“Alright.” Regulus concedes with a shrug.

“Alright?” James echoes, blinking in confusion.

“Yes, to both. I’ll go to you if my mental state makes in necessary since the bond helps, and you can claim me a danger to myself and petition for custody. Under one condition-” he continues before James can mentally celebrate for getting someone as stubborn as Regulus Black to agree to either idea. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“Can’t tell anyone what exactly?” James asks cautiously.

“You can’t tell anyone that I- that this,” he says, gesturing to the window, “happened. The mind healer will obviously have to know, but no one else.”

“Regulus, someone other than me has to know.” James states in exasperation.

“I don’t see why.” The younger teen huffed, turning to look away, only for James to place a hand on his cheek and turn it back so their eyes could meet once more.

“Because you need support.” James reminds him gently. “Either an adult or a friend. Preferably both.”

“The mind healer would be us telling an adult.” Regulus grumbles.

“Alright. What about a friend?”

Regulus sighed, slumping further into James, conceding to his fate. Knowing that if he tells anyone of his friends, they will inevitably tell the others as well. Usually secrets being kept wasn’t something to worry about. They were all Slytherins after all, but when it comes to something like this? Comes to one of them purposefully putting themselves in harm’s way? They were always quick to inform the others.

Taking a deep breath, Regulus agrees to tell his friends the events of that evening when he returns to their dorm room. Which somehow led to James tagging along down to the dungeon as moral support, even though Regulus denied the need for such a thing. A denial James easily waved off.

“I’m currently regulating your emotions, and you are regulating mine,” James reminded his other half while moving to stand up. “Once we stop touching, we’re probably going to crash from the emotional exhaustion, and given your mental state, I would rather you be somewhere safe and comfortable before that happens.” He states while pulling Regulus to his feet using the hand that he has yet to release.

“And you won’t have any issues going from the dungeon to the tower without me regulating your emotions?” Regulus inquired incredulously as they walked to the doorway and set about closing and locking up so that the teachers wouldn’t grow suspicious of someone breaking into the astronomy tower.

“Oh, no,” James denied with a chuckle. “I said we would both crash from emotional exhaustion. Which includes me, in case you didn’t realize, but I happen to have a mind healer I see regularly who’s taught me enough coping skills that I should be okay for the walk back to my dorm.” He explains as they descended the staircase and began the walk down to the dungeon where the slytherin dormitory is located under the cover of James’ invisibility cloak.

Upon reaching the door of Regulus’ room, the Black heir instructed James to take off his cloak and wait on his bed while he carefully woke up his friends, avoiding the instinctual defence spells both teens shot off at being disturbed by an unknown in the middle of the night.

“Regulus, I love you and all, but why are you waking us up at ass-o’clock in the morning?” Was the first thing Barty asked once he had begrudgingly sat up in bed to see what was so important that he had to be woken up in the middle of the night. Only to blink at the sight before him and immediately turn to Evan for confirmation that he was seeing the same thing. When Evan nodded his head, Barty turned back to Regulus. “Why in Merlin’s name is James-Fucking-Potter sitting on your bed?”

Instead of explaining, Regulus simply pulled up his sleeve, revealing the names James Fleamont Potter where the words, They save you, had once sat along his forearm.

“Huh.” Evan breathed out tiredly while Barty began cackling.

There was a bit of confusion and teasing as to what James had saved Regulus from. Given that both had been aware of Regulus’s habit of going to the astronomy tower, they came to the conclusion that he had saved their dorm mate from being caught out after curfew. When Regulus looked down at his lap and stayed silent instead of telling them off for the teasing, Evan grew concerned.

“Okay, we’ve had our fun.” Evan tells a still laughing Barty with a stern look. “What actually happened?”

Regulus shrugged.

“I tried to jump.” He admits far too casually. 

“Fuck.” Barty cursed. “What the actual fuck.” He states, along with a few visual cues so as to not startle his friend, was all the warning he gave before tackling Regulus into a hug, offering comfort while Evan turned to James with narrowed eyes.

“You saved him?” Evan reiterates. “How?”

“He was standing on the window ledge when I got there. I pulled him down.” James answers solemnly.

“Right.” Evan says, turning to eye the two boys who were now piled on top of each other. “Well. Thank you.”

“Don’t.” James stops him.

“Don’t what?” Evan inquired with a raised brow.

“Don’t thank me. I pulled him off the edge because he’s a person, nothing more, nothing less.” 

“Oh? So that’s it? You were just playing hero?” Even asks with a sharp glint in his eyes. “And what now? You just go back to pretending he doesn’t exist, right? Back to playing the part of Sirius’s one and only brother?”

“Of course not.” James scoffs. “I’ve told him to come find me if he needs anything, or simply because he wants to.” He adds after catching Regulus’s eyes. “There are some laws and legal paperwork we’ll be working on together for reasons Regulus can explain if he wants, so you’ll be seeing me around whether you like it or not.” Turning to fully face his soulmate, James grins. “You can’t get rid of me, so you better get used to me.” 

Barty seemed to find the declaration hilarious, and was full on cackling as he ruffled Regulus’s already messy hair, while Evan simply huffs in amusement before draping himself over the other two boys who were already in a pile. James followed him over to the bed they had piled on, offering his hand to his other half, who took it easily. Most likely seeking out the calming effect of the bond. 

“I have to get back to my dorm room. Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.” James promises with a squeeze of his hand that Regulus returns.

Barty calls out a fair well, and hopes that the gryffindor gets caught on the way back, while Evan simply watches him turn invisible and slip out of the dorm.

Chapter Text

Regulus Arcturus Black was both so similar to the little brother Sirius had described and nothing like him. When James got to have a proper introduction to the group of Slytherins that made up Regulus’s friends, he was immediately asked what his impression of his soulmate was. The best way James could describe him was by saying he had the mannerisms of a mirror shard; technically broken and yet still perfectly functional. It was nothing against Regulus, just an acknowledgement that if he wasn’t careful when handling the shard, the edges might cut him. Regulus had, of course, scoffed and rolled his eyes at the comparison, but Pandora seemed to both agree and like that summary of Regulus as a person. Which meant that she liked him for the time being, and since apparently, getting the approval of the younger Rosier twin ment he got the approval from the group as a whole, James had been officially invited to a few of their usual hang outs, allowing him to spend more time with his soulmate.

Between classes, course work, study sessions, marauders shenanigans, getting to know Regulus and his friends, along with gathering the necessary paperwork to claim custody of his soulmate, time flew by. Their month of waiting for James’s usual mind healer appointment was over before the waiting ever really began, and the bonded pair soon found themselves in the back office area of the medical ward where the private guest healers were instructed to set up.

“Hello James. It’s always lovely to see you.” Jillian greetes when he entered the room.

“Hi! I’m not actually doing a session today.” James quickly informed the healer, who simply tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh? Whyever not? Is something wrong?” Jillian inquired, gently trying to steer the interaction.

“No, nothing’s wrong- well, actually, there is, kinda, but we’ll get to that in a second.” James tries to explain as he steps to the side, allowing Jillian to see the shorter boy that had followed him into the room. “This is Regulus Black. I need you to evaluate him.”

“James… while I’m glad you’re trying to get your friend the help they need, this time is meant to be for you.” Jillian reminds him.

“I know.” James nods, pulling gently on Regulus’s hand to get him to sit down on the couch beside him. “This is for me, technically. It will make me feel better at least.”

The healer took a few moments to contemplate what was happening, and then sighs with the exasperation that only someone with a decade of experience dealing with James's particular brand of chaos can. She looked at the younger teen, taking in his black curly hair, his gray eyes, and smooth unmarked skin that made him appear so similar to a porcelain doll.

“Hello Regulus. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but you would be Sirius’s little brother, yes?”

“That’s right.” Regulus agrees with a polite dip of his head.

“Regulus is what you prefer to be called?”

“Corect.”

“And I have your permission to evaluate you?” Jilian inquired.

“You have my permission to do as necessary for this process to go smoothly.”

“Alright.” Jillian says, picking up her quil and notepad. “James, if you could step out of the room?”

“No.” Regulus denies immediately, catching the older teen’s wrist in a tight grip to discourage him from doing as asked.

“No?” Jillian echoed in confusion.

“Potter stays. He already knows why we’re here and any information you intend to communicate would immediately be shared at my earliest convenience.”

“Alright. Having someone sit in on the first session for moral support is rather common.” Jillian agrees with a soft smile. “Could you tell me what brought you to see me?...besides James.” She added with a playful tone that wouldn't last long in the presence of the Black heir.

“I’d like for you to sign off on some papers declaring me a danger to myself.” Regulus answers bluntly, not bothering to sugar coat his words when it would give him no advantages.

“I’m sorry? Could you repeat that?” Jillian requested hesitantly.

“I’m here to be declared a danger to myself so you can sign some papers transferring sole custody of me from the current people with custody to my bonded.” Regulus further explains while fidgeting with the fingers of James’s hand, a habit he had developed over the past month, much to his own annoyance.

“I see…” Jillian trails off with furrowed brows. “I’m afraid that would take more than one session with me as I would need time to properly evaluate you, and that would have to be on your own , unless you have previous medic-”

“Previous medical documentation, yes, I’ve been made aware.” Regulus states, eyeing James, who simply gives him an encouraging nod. “I’ve also been informed that you already have the documentation that I tried to kill myself on Potter’s file.”

The fact that Jillian didn’t choke at the casual admission was simply due to having been in her particular medical field for far too long. Although she had taken a slightly sharper breath when the pieces settled into place. Her eyes flickered from James’s forearm where she knew his mark sat, to the boy sitting next to him.

“ Oh. You’re- Okay, here’s what we have to do-”

A record, both in written and memory form, were taken of the events that had happened in the astronomy tower last month. Photos were taken of both soulmarks after multiple revealing spells had been used to check for any illusions. Their magical levels were measured, although only James had anything to compare the results to. The diagnostic spell that was used on both of them documented the bond flaring to life exactly one month ago, perfectly corroborating the information they had given the mind healer, but something else in the diagnostic results made Jilian very concerned.

“Regulus, I believe that the information found in your results would be best discussed in private first. However, I acknowledge the fact that you want James nearby due to the calming nature of soulbonds, so I have to ask once more before I disclose any of your medical information to someone else, are you sure that you want this information to be made known to the Wiccan that is James Potter?”

“I have no issue with sharing my medical history with Potter.” Regulus answers with a nod of his head. “He will learn it eventually one way or another.”

Still, Jilian hesitated to continue. She took a deep breath and sat up into perfect posture, as if that would help with whatever news she had to share about his results.

“Before I continue, there is one more question I must ask. Regulus, are you aware that the use of an unforgivable is illegal and has to be reported by medical personnel upon suspicion ?”

The boy in question didn’t respond. All he did was stare at the woman in front of him and tighten his hold on James’s hand.

“Hold your tongue.” Regulus ordered.

“Regulus-”

“If you wish to keep your reputation, your medical license, or perhaps even your life, then don’t say another word.” Regulus hissed. “You seem nice enough, and clearly Potter trusts you given the fact he brought me here knowing who controls me, so I would rather you not vanish into the ether, because you would, vanish that is, should someone find out what you just insinuated.”

“Regulus,” Jillian tries again, cautiously. “I understand that it would be, well, terrifying to be put under that kind of curse, but speaking up, telling someone , can help get you away from the one who used it on you, and I am legally required to report-”

“Speaking up against them will result in death, if they choose to be merciful, that is.” Regulus corrects sharply. “We are already handling the situation by getting me out of their custody.”

Jilian does choke this time.

“ Your parents ?”

“No! Enough - I’m here to get the sole custody of myself handed to Potter. That is all you will be doing, because that is all that can be done.” Regulus tells her with narrowed eyes. “I am in no way exaggerating due to being frightened, conditioned, or whatever other theories you have about my mental state. I am telling you facts based on events that have already happened, repeatedly .”

The room grew colder at that admission. James gave up on the idea of staying out of Regulus’s personal space, and instead of only leaning against his side, he wrapped his arm snugly around the younger boy’s waist and tugged him into James’s lap. He will no doubt be lectured for wrinkling the fabric, and for the overly casual contact, but that was the least of James’s worries. He just wanted Regulus to calm down and breath. His bonded was getting too worked up, but thankfully the contact seemed to help.

“If you wish to keep yourself safe,” Regulus began in a softer, tired tone as he leaned back into James and began to once again play with his fingers. “Then you will say not another word.”

“... Okay .” Jillian breathed. “Alright. Not a word outside of this room , because I can’t just leave this be. There are after effects from the unforgivables that require additional care. It’s indicated on the diagnostic chart that you have quite a few symptoms.”

Regulus eyed her suspiciously, but allowed her to proceed with her questions. Taking another deep breath, Jillian began her list of questions but left her quil and parchment untouched, showing that she had no intention of bringing this to an outside source.

“Are you aware that there are lasting side effects from being placed under the two unforgivables that don’t kill its target? Especially for prolonged periods of time?”

A nod.

“Are you aware that the side effects are long lasting and incurable? That there are little to no treatments to mitigate symptoms.”

A hesitant shake of the head.

“In order to provide proper care, I need to know which unforgivable were you placed under, and for how long. Can you provide that information?”

“They control me… so long as I’m in that house, they control me .” Regulus emphasises. “I don’t remember a time when they haven’t had control. They don't want another disgrace to the house like-” He snaps his mouth shut, clenching his jaw. “I can’t break it.” He continued. “ They have to end it, and the longest length of use without pause was that of a Hogwarts school year when I was ten.”

James forced himself to take a few harsh but controlled breaths as he attempted not to squeeze the life out of his soulmate. He feels sick. Being under the Imperius curse for a full year-

Then the realization that Sirius doesn’t know and probably shouldn’t ever find out hits him hard . There’s no telling what kind of spiral that would send the older Black brother into, especially because Sirius thinks Regulus is safe . Sirius thinks that Regulus is the perfect pure-blood heir, but how much of that perfection was forced? How much choice has Regulus ever gotten in anything?

Jillian cleared her throat.

“Have you noticed anything? Perhaps you’re missing time when you aren’t under that curse? Any events in which you were in one location and then another with no recollection of how you got there?”

A blank stare.

A sigh.

A hesitant nod.

“Do you have difficulties making decisions? Does having multiple choices make you uncomfortable? Do you prefer to let others pick things so long as none of the options are harmful to you?”

Another nod.

“Are you able to identify what emotions you are feeling?”

“I’m… not sure.” Regulus confesses. “I know that I can recognize some of them, so It could be that I can recognize them and simply haven’t felt certain ones before.”

“That’s alright. Can you list the ones you can feel and identify?”

“Anger. Annoyance. Distress.  Entertainment… Existing?” Regulus lists off.

“Alright, and have you or the people around you noticed a rapid change between these moods? Switching from one to the other without the need for transition.”

“Potter?” Regulus questioned, earning a shrug.

“I don’t think I know you well enough to make that call yet.” James admits. “But I’ll keep an eye out for stuff like that.”

“Thank you James. That would be helpful.” Jilian nods. “Regulus, do you understand that the effects I just listed were caused by the prolonged use of the Imperius curse on your person?”

“Yes, I understand.” Regulus agrees.

“Unfortunately, these symptoms are part of the group that don’t have treatments. Being around James might help snap you out of dissociative episodes, which are the ses in time, faster, but there’s no guarantee that the bond will do anything besides providing comfort. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” Regulus sighs dejectedly.

With everything in order, Jilian signed off on a few of the documents, explaining that this process had to be done in multiple sessions; six to be exact.

“This appointment counts as the first?” James confirmed.

“That’s right. Just six more visits, and should all the criteria be met, custody of Regulus will be passed to you, James. However, I would like to continue seeing you even after the process is complete.” Jillian tells the Black heir. “Yearly check-ins are mandatory for cases like these, so if that is all you wish to do, that is all that is necessary, but I’d suggest setting up monthly appointments similar to what James does.”

After agreeing to think about the frequency of which Regulus would be attending sessions with a mind healer, the appointment was over. James walked Regulus back down to the dungeon through the hidden passageways and handed over the signed paperwork to Barty for safekeeping upon arriving at their dorm room. Then they began the debriefing of how the session with Jilian went before James had to sneak back out and up to his own dorm room.

“Session ran long?” Peter asks into the darkness, startling James who had thought his friends were all fast asleep.

“Yeah. There was some stuff to go over.” James answered honestly. “What are you still doing up Wormy?”

“I was waiting for you to get back.” Peter tells him, patting the spot next to him on James’s bed where he had decided to wait.

The moment James sat down, Peter threw up a privacy charm and held up a still active map.

“I didn’t know Jillian did sessions down in the snakepit.” Peter says with a raised brow. “Then again, she wasn’t there. It was just you and a bunch of snakes.”

“Ah.” James blinked, weighing his options. “What did you see?”

“You mean did I see you sneaking around with Sirius’s little brother?” Peter deadpans.

“Yeah.” James sighed. “That.”

“Does Sirius know? He doesn’t, does he?” Peter questions with furrowed brows.

“Does Pads know what, Wormy?” James echos inquisitively, trying to gauge exactly what his friend was thinking.

“That you’re-” Peter made a vague hand gesture and slightly panicked noise. “That you’re seeing his little brother! ”

“I’m not seeing Regulus.” James corrects with a shrug, causing Peter to stop freaking out.

“You’re not?”

“I’m not.” James agrees.

“Oh thank Merlin! Do you know how bad I am at keeping secrets? If you were seeing him and Sirius didn’t know- I would be doomed! Doomed!” Peter exclaims, flopping back into the pillows of James’s bed.

“Yeah I remember the last time you tried to keep a secret.” James chuckled.

“So… what were you doing with Baby Black?” Peter asked curiously.

“I thought we just agreed that you can’t keep a secret?” James snarked, earning a pout.

“I can’t.” Peter says in that casual manner that always meant he was looking for more information. “But you’re not keeping whatever you’re doing with Regulus from Padfoot, are you?”

Ah, so that's the information he was fishing for.

“No.” James sighed, running a hand through his hair. “But I’m hoping to be a little farther along in what I’m doing before I mention anything. I don’t want to get his hopes up.”

“Get his hopes up?” Peter echoed. When his searching look turned into incredulous stare, James knew he made the connection. “James… there’s only one thing involving his little brother that could get his hopes up-”

James shrugged, “We’ll see what happens when the school year ends.” Was all he said before stepping outside of the privacy spell so he could get ready for bed.

The first thing James did the next morning was hunt down Regulus so he could explain that Peter caught them meeting up at some point and confronted him when he returned to their dorm room later than usual. He also explains that Peter was now under the impression that James was trying to convince Regulus to stay at Potter manor for the summer, and, or, indefinitely. The fact that Peter is a terrible secret keeper was added to the list of explanations, but James had assured his soulmate that Peter would probably try his best not to let anything slip because he also didn’t want to get Sirius’s hopes up.

“Why would it get my brother’s hopes up? He hates me.” Regulus points out with a scoff.

“He doesn’t hate you.” James tries to reassure him, but Regulus was having none of it.

“He told me I was just like them .” He hissed. “Right after she finished torturing him. Sirius said I would only ever be their perfect little pure-blood puppet .” Regulus spat the last word, and knowing the context that he does, James understands that it hurts to be called a puppet far more than his soulmate would ever admit.

“I can’t speak for Sirius.” James settles on saying. “All I can tell you is what he’s told me, and that’s the fact that you're his brother and he wants you with him. Which means as far as Peter is concerned, me not telling Sirius that I’m supposedly trying to convince you to come home with me, is to avoid getting his hopes up. Okay?”

Regulus huffed, but didn’t dispute the reasoning so James let the subject drop. He gave a squeeze to Regulus’s hand, which the younger returned, before quickly heading off to breakfast. The less time he left Peter alone with Sirius the better.

With Peter now knowing a little of what was going on, at least in regards to moving Regulus to Potter manor, he had started paying more attention; noticing when James left to go see his soulmate. Of course Remus noticed that Peter was paying James extra attention and was quick to do the same, which meant Sirius started paying attention to him, and long story short, Sirius saw James meeting up with Regulus and had questions.

“We’re just talking Pads.”

“Sure. Sure- but why are you talking with Reggie?” Sirius questions sharply.

“Is there a secret ban on talking to Regulus that I hadn’t been made aware of?” James asks instead of answering.

“No.” Sirius sulks, narrowing his eyes. “But I still want to know why , Prongs.”

“We’re working on something together.” James answered with a shrug.

“Working on what? There are no projects with younger or older years.” Sirius points out.

“Right.” James agaress. “There aren’t. Not that it matters, since it’s not technically school related. I can’t really explain all that much about it right now, Pads.”

“Why can’t you? You always tell me everything!”

“Because I don’t want to get your hopes up if this doesn’t work out.”

“Get my hopes-” Sirius blinked, pausing mid echo of James’s response. “No.” Sirius denies. “It won’t work. He refused to come with me when I asked.”

James was in no way surprised that Sirius caught on so fast. There was a reason that his best friend was one of the top students in their year. On such reason was the fact that Remus forced them to actually do their work and turn it in, but that’s besides the point. Bitting his tongue with a sigh, James gave a runaround response, knowing that it wasn’t his information to share.

“You’ll have to ask him his reason for that later, if everything works out. But for now, just let things happen and we’ll see where we end up.”

Sirius was very reluctant, but did agree for the off chance that it would lead to Regulus going to Potter manor with them at the end of the school year. The topic was dropped for the most part, besides the side glances Sirius would give James whenever he disappeared and reappeared from a meeting with Regulus.

Sessions with Jillian continued once a month and sort of felt like pulling teeth when it came to Regulus. Some topics seemed to be free for discussion, but others would get him to clam up immediately. It was during their third session, one of the times Regulus had clammed up, that James first, knowingly, witnessed one of the dissociative episodes they had talked about. It was odd to see Regulus stare blankly at whoever was talking to him if they managed to catch his attention, but he wouldn’t say a word or otherwise react to anything. He would blink hard once, twice, and that's how they knew he was back. It was impressive how he could act like nothing had happened, as if he had been mentally present the whole time.

After seeing what it looked like when Regulus slipped away a handful of times, it became easier to notice. His friends obviously already knew that he sometimes tuned them out, but had been under the impression that it was on purpose. Now they knew better and tended to keep a closer eye when Regulus slipped into his own mind. The shorter episodes were only as long as two or three minutes. Other times it takes hours, with the longest episode that James didn’t personally witness, but was told about by Evan, being a little more than five hours. That’s when the rule of three was introduced, where they would either send Regulus to James or James to Regulus if he reached the three hour mark and still isn't back to himself, so their bond could ground the Black heir and bring him back to the present.

The rule of three was apparently what happened when one day Regulus Black, the little prince of Slytherin, took a seat next to James in the library during one of Remus and Lily’s mandatory study sessions. It was definitely strange enough to gather everyone’s attention or be pointed out to those who had their nose too far in their books and had yet to notice, but James had been paying more attention to the head of blond hair that had casually walked past the table he was sitting at while everyone else looked at Regulus in confusion. He made a mental note that Regulus was at the three hour mark and that Evan had been with him last so if he needed to have more information that's who to check in with.

“Uh, Regulus, right? You’re one of Cas’s friends?” Marlene greets, eyeing Sirius as if he knew what was happening, but had decided to stick to the safer social connection.

The greeting went unacknowledged. Not even a twitch or any other reaction that would indicate Regulus had heard people talking to him. Which made sense. Marlene wasn’t of any importance to Regulus, so unless she was screaming she wouldn’t attract his attention.

“Reggie what are you doing here?” Sirius asks with crossed arms and furrowed brows.

No response, but his head had turned in his brother’s direction, even if he didn’t look up from his book.

A few more seconds of silence passed, and then there was the sound of a page turning. Glancing at the book was all it took for James to decide that he hates it, because of course it was a bloody astronomy book. The part of him that had grown accustomed to what Slytherns thought to be a funny inside joke knew Evan was poking fun, but he also wanted to curse the Rosier heir out for being such a prick.

Letting his eyes wander to each of his friends, gauging their reactions, he saw that they were mainly surprise, confused, and a little suspicious, especially Sirius, but no one seemed to have any hostility towards the Slytherin, so he decides that this was probably fine, and turns his attention back to assessing his soulmate. He already knew Regulus wasn’t actually reading even before he checked and saw his gray eyes remaining stationary, staring at a single point without movement. He also knew that visual cues wouldn’t help bring him back. Physical or auditory was best for grounding him.

Sighing, James picked up his school bag which, unsurprisingly drew the attention of his friends from Regulus to himself, and dug around until he found the puzzle cube he had been gifted for his birthday and was still working on. Pulling the much hated astronomy book out of Regulus’s hands had been too easy and only earned him a slow blink, which was better than being completely ignored, but also wasn’t great. He handed over the toy, and waited for Regulus to realize that the gears moved around. Once he did, the fifth year began fidgeting with the cube, moving around the pieces without any real purpose. That was definitely better than staring blankly at a page, so James refocused on the study group.

“What was it you were saying about a corporeal vs an incorporeal Patronus charm?” James asked, completely ignoring the looks he knew he was getting. “I still don’t get why it would be better to cast an incorporeal one if you’re able to cast a corporeal Patronus.”

“Not important right now.” Mary decides, gesturing at the seemingly random addition to their group. “I'm more curious about that.”

“Cool, and I’d like to not flunk my DADA test,” James shrugs. “So Patronuses- that doesn’t sound right. Patroni? Patronuses? What’s the plural form?”

“James.” Sirius calls from across the table, and he knows by the use of his actual name that Sirius isn’t messing around.

“Hm?”

“What was that?” Sirius demands, flickering his eyes between James and Regulus.

“What was what?” James inquired.

“Don’t play dumb.” Sirius huffs through his wrinkled nose. “Reggie sat down, and then you traded his book for a toy. He let you trade his book for a toy.”

“You saw that too?” James asked Peter who was seated a little ways away from Sirius, giving him a great excuse to look away from his best friend.

“You taking Baby Black’s book without being hissed at?” Peter asked incredulously. “Yeah I saw that.”

“Great.” James cheered. “That’s what happened. Can we get back to my question on the Patronus charm?”

“No!” Sirius objected. “What the fuck, Prongs.” The teen in question raised a brow at the tone being used but said nothing due to the fact that he was currently being a bit of an ass in order to keep his promise to Regulus. He couldn’t just explain that Regulus was here because they were soulmates since it would expose the events of that night in the astronomy tower. If he had found Regulus before the marauders ever saw his soulmark, this wouldn’t even be a problem, but he hadn’t so they know what his mark had said, so needs-must. He’ll just have to apologize later.

“Pads, what do you want me to say? He sat down next to me and I took his book because it’s astronomy and I hate it so I got it out of my sight, but then he didn’t have anything to do so I gave him my puzzle cube. What’s the problem?”

“I-” Sirius began, but he honestly looked just as confused by whatever issue he had as everyone else. “...why is he here?” He asks again, this time to James since Regulus wasn't responding.

“Because he is.” James shrugged, making a hand motion that to everyone else looked like he was waving the matter off, but the marauders all understood the message of later . “Now- Patronuses?”

“Patroni.” Remus corrects while pinching the bridge of his nose before proceeding to get them back on track.

They ended up working a little longer than usual due to the fact that they lost a good chunk of time to the confusion caused by Regulus appearing out of the blue, but they managed to go over everything that they needed to so the study session wasn’t a complete failure. Cleaning up after themselves, packing away notes and putting books back where they found them, also took twice as long, because everyone still seemed curious about why Regulus was there. The general consensus seemed to be that if they hung around long enough, maybe James or the anomaly in question would explain. They didn’t, so the group dwindled down until it was just Regulus and the marauders.

Sirius had just opened his mouth to say something, probably to demand an explanation but paused when Regulus finally looked up from the toy he'd been messing with. Looking around, Regulus took in his surroundings for the first time. 

“Sirius.” The younger Black brother greeted with a nod before turning his attention to James. “Potter, what is this?” He inquired, while holding up the toy.

“It's a puzzle cube. You have to solve the outside part to get the prize from the center.”

Humming in acknowledgment, Regulus handed the cube back, so James handed him back the book he had sat down with. Regulus huffed in amusement when he read the title, which caused James to roll his eyes.

“Would either of you like to explain what that was about?” Remus drawled.

“Potter has an aversion to astronomy.” Regulus answers with a raised brow.

“Since when?” Sirius demanded with his arms crossed over his chest, brows furrowed, and lips pulled downwards.

Regulus shrugged, knowing that neither he nor James would answer.

“The book thing also wasn’t what I was asking about.” Remus points out. “But I’m sure you knew that.”

The observation earned a neutral hum from Regulus as he stood from the table.

“Don't worry about it. Just know that I’ll be joining you from time to time. Get used to it, or don’t, but I’ll be around.” Regulus answers as he spins on his heel and leaves the marauders in the library.

“...Prongs.” Sirius breaths out, very confused, slightly suspicious, but a little hopeful. Eyes tracking the figure of his retreating brother.

“Yes Pads?” The teen in question responds with a gentle smile.

“This is part of that thing you were secretly meeting Reggie about, that you refused to explain, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

“Wait-  is that not a secret anymore?” Peter squeaked out.

“I was supposed to be.” James chuckled. “But you got Moony to catch on, which made Pads pay more attention- and long story short, you’re still horrible with secrets.” That earned a singular groan and a round of laughter.

Chapter Text

It was strange how normal it was becoming to see the small group of snakes with Gryffindors that were known for pranking Slytherins rather viciously. When Regulus said that he would be around more often, none of them really thought he meant more than once or twice a month when the occasion was necessary for one reason or another. Meaning it was quite the surprise when different group variations of Regulus’s friends decided to insert themselves into study groups and casual hangouts multiple times a week.

At first, James had been worried that Regulus was having more episodes and needed to be around him more often because of that, but it seemed like the snakes were simply enjoying the confusion they were causing in the school social circles. More often than not, Regulus remained lucid for the entire length of time he decided to grace them with his presence, much to James's relief.

Remus and Lily seemed to adapt to the new addition the easiest, including him into study sessions as if he was in the same year group. Sirius was evidently trying to not push his luck and was happy to take the seat closest to his brother while they ignored each other. It honestly confused the majority of their friends, but given that they were all only children, it was dismissed as a sibling thing by Lily and Mary, the only two of their group of lions who actually had siblings. Of course, with the addition of Regulus came his friends, adding to the overall chaos of the group. None of the Slytherins had any qualms with shoving Regulus closer to his soulmate so they weren’t just near each other, but touching. It was their attempt to use James to regulate Regulus’s emotions. They didn’t care how it looked to others, so long as Regulus was getting help with his mental state.

This, obviously, led to a misunderstanding from the Gryffindors, or, more specifically, a misunderstanding with Sirius.

“Are you dating?” Sirius questioned after dragging James into an isolated corner. “Is that why he agreed to leave Grimmauld with you?”

“Uh- no?” James answered, blinking in surprise. “-...to both. No to both. We aren’t dating, and even if we were, that isn’t the reason he’s willing to try leaving now instead of when you asked. I told you, you can ask him his reasons later once everything is settled.”

The elder Black brother waved him off, clearly not believing a word he was saying.

“He lets you touch him.” Sirius points out. “His friends practically shove you two together at all times.”

“Yes, and?” James tilted his head in confusion

“Why would he allow it if you aren’t dating? He hates being touched.”

Furrowing his brows, James blinked at his best friend, utterly confused.

“No he doesn’t?” James says, earning a scoff.

“I’m his brother. I think I would know. He used to flinch away from everyone he came in contact with, which led to Reggie getting in trouble with Mother on more than one occasion.” Sirius states. James nodded along as he spoke, but disagreed all the same.

“Look I can’t speak for him, but from what I can tell, he’s touch-starved, not touch-repulsed. Grimmauld wasn’t a safe place for either of you to accept touch, but you both seem to be tactile people when you’re allowed to be.” James explained as best as he could.

“So what? You’re saying I could pull him into a hug and he wouldn’t even flinch?” Sirius challenged, which earned a contemplative hum.

“Probably not. He’s not used to you being touchy with him even if he knows you’re a tactile person. Maybe try bumping your shoulders or feet together? See how he responds, and then move forward from there.”

Sirius frowns but nods hesitantly.

“Alright… So he likes being touched? And that’s all there is between you two? Tactile contact? No dating, or crushes, or anything?” The elder Black brother inquires.

James knew he couldn't tell Sirius anything flat out no, not with the way he stacked the questions. If he had stuck to the dating question, there would be no issue with James denying it because it's the truth and he wouldn't need to lie to Sirius, but he added on the other two and he would be lying if he said no. Lying by omission is one thing, and is something he's willing to do for the sake of secret keeping, but flat out lying, and to Sirius of all people? He can't do it.

“Prongs?”

He must have hesitated for a second too long because Sirius was looking at him with narrowed eyes once more.

“We’re not dating.” James responds with the only truth he could give.

“...but you have a crush on Reggie?” Sirius asks knowingly, but James doesn't even care because that is the point Sirius had decided to focus on, not the anything else.

“I don’t know. Maybe? It’s not really important in the grand scheme of things.” James answers with a shrug.

“What do you mean it’s not important!? You have a crush on my baby brother!”

“I might have a crush.” James states with a roll of his eyes at his best friend’s dramatics. “I haven’t actually sat down to figure out what my feelings are. They could be completely platonic, or they could be romantic, but I haven’t tried to figure it out yet.” He says simply.

“What do you mean you haven’t tried to figure it out? Why not?” Sirius huffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“Because I don’t intend on acting on any feelings for the time being. Right now all I’m trying to do is make sure Regulus is safe. Okay?”

“You’re just trying to keep Reggie safe?” Sirius questioned.

“Yes. Anything else isn't important right now. Once we're all home for the summer we can talk more about whatever it is my relationship with Regulus is. Okay?”

Sirius tried to push the topic, to try and get a confession as to why James suddenly had a relationship with his brother to begin with, but James cut it off, eventually getting him to agree to drop it. Although that was only under the condition that Sirius is the first to know if the dynamic between James and Regulus switches to being romantic in nature. James, of course, relayed the entire interaction back to Regulus so he wouldn’t be surprised by any interrogation Sirius might try or by any physical contact he might attempt. The possibility of either thing happening had earned James quite a few snarky comments, which he accepted easily having expected such a response. Both of them glossed over whether their bond was platonic or romantic. They hadn’t had the chance to really figure it out yet, what with school, mind healer sessions, and legal paperwork, but neither of the bonded pair seemed to be in a rush to decide which way the bond leaned.

That doesn’t mean Regulus wasn’t going to have his fun messing with Sirius. At the first opportunity Regulus could find, he slipped into James’s lap right in front of Sirius, as well as the entirety of the early risers of Hogwarts seeing as they were currently eating breakfast at the great hall. There was a high pitched questioning wine along with some laughter, but James ignored it for the time being.

“‘Morning.” James yawned, resting his chin over Regulus’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around his soulmate’s waist. The pleasant buzz at the contact was doing more to tempt him back to sleep than wake him up, which was counterproductive given the fact that he had quidditch practice in a little while, but James wasn’t going to complain about Regulus reching out first. If anything, he was always quick to reward such a thing with additional attention, knowing that Regulus soaked it up like a sponge.

“Yes. Good morning. Here.” Regulus says sharply with a roll of his eyes. Handing over an envelope that most likely contained more legal paperwork James would have to fill out.

“Can’t it wait?” James sighed, turning his face to line his lips up with the ear of his bonded. “You’re just here to rile Pads up, aren’t ya?” The huff he receives is all the confirmation James needs to be able to go back to his breakfast.

A chuckle from across the table caught his attention as he took a sip from his cup. Remus had a raised brow arched at the bonded pair while Peter stared curiously, resting his chin in hand. Sirius was frowning at them but wasn't out right glaring, so James counts that as progress. Another huff from Regulus draws his attention back to his soulmate who was tucked in his lap and somehow making the action look elegant. The letter was shoved into his hand this time instead of offered.

Ah , James realized, his bonded didn’t want to draw out this interaction too long. He probably wanted to leave before the rest of the students that woke up at reasonable hours came down. Hmm …

Sighing, James opened the already unsealed letter and began looking through it. Most of it was questions for Regulus himself to fill out, which he had already done before bringing the forms to him. All James really has to do is sign off that he's read over what Regulus thinks he'll need while under James’s care and whether or not he thought he could provide everything his bonded needed.

“More paperwork to sign?” Remus mussed, clearly trying to start a conversation, but James wasn't really in the head space to do more than make sure he could take care of his bonded.

“I don't see how it is any of your business.” Regulus states, trying to snip the budding conversation off so that James could focus. The fact that Regulus knew he couldn't do a conversation right now and intervened made him happy for some reason or other, so he rewarded Regulus with more physical attention, squeezing his arms a little tighter, but not uncomfortably so, since his hands were busy flipping through papers.

“Sure, not my business. Just curious.” Remus shrugged, arm flinging out to the side to pull Peter back into his seat so he couldn't look over the table at the papers. Regulus raised a brow at his brother who seemed to be the only one behaving as he's left the topic alone completely in favor of eating his breakfast.

“Nothing to say, Sirius?” The younger Black brother challenged, causing Sirius to raise his head to look at his little brother and smirk.

“Nah. Not right now. You can answer all my questions later.” Sirius says, biting another sausage off his fork as he pointedly glanced around where they could see other students not so sneakily stealing glances at their group. Regulus followed Sirius’s line of sight and finds himself nodding in agreement before deciding he was done with this interaction if it wasn't doing it's purpose of messing with Sirius.

Regulus tried to get up, but James had a solid hold on his waist and was keeping him in place far too easily.

“Potter.” Regulus says in a clipped tone, earning a hum. Wiggling in his spot caused a hand to fly off the papers and onto his thigh, pressing hard as if to still him.

James looked up from his papers and met Regulus’s eyes, confused as to why he was moving around so much.

“Let me go.” Regulus tells his bonded, earning a look of understanding, James untangled his hold on Regulus to allow him up out of his lap and watched as he disappeared out of the great hall without another word.

“...He was totally just here to mess with Pads.” Peter cackled, earning a snort from Remus.

“Obviously.” Sirius agrees with a roll of his eyes.

“Nah- Well , not just to mess with him.” James informs them. “We’re getting close to the deadline on some of these papers and have to get them sent out and legalized. Preferably sooner than later.”

“Oh?” Sirius questioned, looking rather curious about the whole project seeing as this was definitely the most information either James or Regulus had shared about it. “Why does he need a bunch of legal paperwork anyways? I left for your place without doing all this.” He pointed out, gesturing to the papers James was reading over.

“Ah-ah! That’s a question for Regulus and you know it.” James deflects.

“ Or , it's a question for you to answer.” Sirius says in an attempt to persuade his friend into sharing the information.

“Nope! That's a question to ask your brother.” James states, causing Sirius to pout.

“Alright, enough of this.” Remus chuckled, looking pointedly between the two teens. “You both have quidditch practice to get to. Go on.” 

Rather reluctantly, Sirius shoved the last of his food into his mouth and got up from the table. James followed behind at a slightly slower pace, folding the papers back into the envelope before shoving it into his pocket.

“That won’t distract Padfoot for long and you know it.” Peter states as they watch their friends leave the great hall.

“There’s only two months left until summer break. Then he can ask his questions so long as Prongs is actually able to get Regulus to Potter manor.” Remus says with a shrug as he too stood from the table to leave.

“You don’t think whatever they’re doing to get baby black out of that house will work?” Peter inquires, tagging along so he wouldn’t be the only one of their friend group at early breakfast.

“I think that they were being secretive about the hows and whys for a reason.” Remus states instead of giving a definit one way or the other, as he begins heading for the library.

“Hey! I tried!” Peter whined, earning a snort. “I really did! Technically it was your fault that Pads noticed!”

“Ah yes. The fact that I noticed, and my boyfriend pays attention to me obviously makes it my fault .” Remus snarks.

“ Exactly !” Peter cheered. “I'm so glad you understand.”

Reaching their usual spot in the library, the two marauders were met with the sight of a lone snake reading over one of the many books she had pulled from the shelves. Interesting enough, she wasn't entirely alone. Pandora had a large, lean, black cat draped over her shoulders like a giant feather boa.

“Is that still alive?” Peter questioned, plopping into the seat across from the little snake they had adopted into their group. “Or is it one of your weird jewelry pieces?”

“Hm?” Pandora hummed, looking up from her book. She raised a hand to the cat's cheek and gave it a scratch.

“Have you not met Etoile? He's usually in the library with Pandora whenever the boys aren't around.” Remus points out while placing his bag on the table.

“Unlike some people, I don't live in the library.” Peter huffs, puffing up his cheeks, which causes Remus to roll his eyes.

Turning to face Pandora he says, “I'm sorry to leave you with this idiot, but I have books to grab.”

“Oh it's no trouble at all, Lupus.” Pandora states with a smile. “If I dislike the company you've provided, I'm sure Étoile wouldn't mind a game of cat and rat.” She says with a pointed look at Peter.

Peter were left a little wide eyed for a second, caught momentarily off guard. Remus, probably realizing that Pandora probably didn’t get the references she had accidentally made, was the quickest to compose himself and jumped back into conversation first.

“It's Lupin, not Lupus, and the saying is cat and mouse, not cat and rat.” Remus gently corrects the snake, who merely tilts her head to the side curiously.

“Is it? I think the Lupus constellation is rather fitting for you, Remus Lupin. And who’s to say if it was ever truly a mouse or a rat playing with the cat? After all, there’s never any evidence of the rodent once the cat is done playing.” Pandora observes, staring innocently at them.

“Right- well, I’ll leave you here with Pandora and Etoile. I’m gonna go see if the girls are up yet.” Peter decides, quickly scurrying off.

Pouting playfully Pandora huffed. “I guess I won’t be having additional company while you pursue the shelves.”

“I guess not.” Remus chuckled. “Although it’s not all that surprising given your teasing.” He pointed out. “A little vicious hm?”

Pandora scoffed, rubbing the soft fur of Étoile’s ear. “What good is knowing information if I don’t use it?”

“Fair enough.” Remus shrugs, taking the seat next to her as he casts a silencing charm. “You wouldn’t happen to know the outcome of whatever it is James and Regulus are doing, would you?”

“Maybe I don’t, or perhaps I do.” Pandora states. “Whether or not I tell you? That depends on why you want to know.” She says, leveling the werewolf with a look.

“I’m just trying to prepare for the damage to come if everything doesn’t work out.” Remus states. “Sirius is really happy and excited that he’s getting his baby brother back by his side. He’s doing his best not to accidentally push Regulus away. He’s toning down his dramatics. He’s being careful not to bombard him with questions because he knows that it would end in a fight if they aren’t able to comfortably and properly talk it out. He’s being as patient as he can be, which means he’s incredibly stressed out.” He sighed, deflating slightly. “I just want to make sure he doesn’t get hurt in all of this, because I’m not sure what would happen if Regulus choses to willingly stay with their parents a second time.”

For a handful of seconds, Pandora doesn’t say a word, just runs her hand through long black fur. A nudge from Étoile is what gets her to start talking.

“He had his reasons for staying behind the first time.” Pandora began.

“I know. Prongs has mentioned it before, that he had his reasons, but not what the reasons were. He’s labeled it a question for the brothers to deal with on their own.”

“Good for Potter, keeping his word when it comes to Reggie.” Pandora hummed. “You know, we weren’t actually sure that he would, for the first few months, keep his word, I mean, but here we are, four months in and he’s yet to let him down.” She paused, silvery blue eyes meeting hazel ones with flecks of gold. “I think it will all turn out just fine.”

“Yeah?” Remus breath, relaxing slightly.

Pandora smiled.

“One way or another, Regulus will end up where he’s supposed to be.”

Chapter Text

The last two months before summer was really just one big waiting game. A countdown until it was revealed whether or not the paperwork would be stopped by someone on the Black family’s payroll or if it would go through and allow James to claim custody. The second to last month started out the same as the last five months, with a mind healer session. Jillian gave the bonded pair the final signature they needed for the custody forms and sent a copy off to the ministry for processing and the goblins for record keeping. Half way through the last month, an owl was sent to James, informing him that his claim was being processed, which was good. It indicated that no one had tried to stop the change in Regulus’s custody, but receiving word that it was only just being processed with less than a month left clearly put the younger of the pair on edge.

Regulus was having more dissociative episodes, being triggered by the stress of the whole situation, and James was having a difficult time covering them up. At first, Sirius had been worried that Regulus had gone back to ignoring his existence, but the fact that it had been happening, seemingly at random, clued him in that something else was going on. Remus could physically smell the distress on the younger Black brother, as James was soon informed during a conversation where all the marauders had decided it would be best to voice their collective concerns after Regulus had dismissed them once again when he snapped out of an episode.

Really, there was only so much damage control James could provide, and Regulus knew it. There wasn’t really a reason to keep Regulus’s condition a secret other than the fact that they both knew Sirius wouldn’t handle the information well, and with his older brother being prone to dramatics, Regulus had been reluctant to share. At least, that had been the excuse Regulus had used; Sirius being dramatic and probably making a big deal out of something that didn’t technically affect him and only affected Regulus. James had a feeling that there was a different reason for not telling Sirius that he wasn’t sharing, but allowed his soulmate the excuse anyway.

Evidently, they had to tell at least Sirius something or he would keep asking what was going on and why Regulus was going back to ignoring him on occasion, which is probably how they ended up here, with Regulus being mentally gone and Sirius sitting in front of him determinedly. James had pulled Regulus into his lap, giving him his non-dominant hand to fidget with, when he noticed Regulus check out of his body, and Sirius, who had recognized the sign that his brother was now ignoring everyone, had gotten up from where he had been sitting with Remus to plop down on James’s bed, directly in front of the bonded pair.

They sat like this for a while, with James trying to convince Sirius to go back to drawing pictures of Remus in his sketchbook, and Sirius refusing to move until he got answers. When Regulus snapped back out of his episode, it had, thankfully, only been twenty minutes.

“What are you doing?” Regulus inquires, blinking hard as he glanced from his brother to Remus, who was abandoning his book now that Regulus was acknowledging them again, and Peter who had stopped copying the answers off of James’s transfiguration homework to pay attention, knowing that this conversion wasn’t one that Sirius was going to let drop.

“Oh, you’re acknowledging us now?” Sirius asks in turn, rocking his forwards slightly to rest most of his weight on the palms of his hands. “That’s nice of you.”

“Sirius-” James warmed but was cut off with a sharp look and an accusing finger.

“No. You, stay out of this. Not a word!” Sirius says with narrowing eyes. “I’m talking with my brother. You can butt-out.”

“Weren’t you claiming him as your brother not so long ago?” Regulus asked pointedly, leaning back into James’s chest. Tilting his head up ever so slightly to allow honey eyes to meet silver. “My apologies Potter, but it seems that the prestigious title of ‘brother’ is a fickle one that Sirius hands out as he pleases.” The younger Black snarked, cutting his eyes back to said brother.

“That’s not- No ! Stop it! You can’t pick fights with me just to get out of conversations!” Sirius scolds, much to his brother’s annoyance.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Regulus rebuts, earning a scoff.

“Sure you don’t.” Sirius says with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not like getting into verbal spars is your favorite distraction to use or anything.”

“Exactly.” Regulus agrees. “There are so many other ways to distract someone. Why would I ever need to start a fight intentionally? Those can get so messy.” He states as if his brother hadn’t been being dramatic.

Sirius groaned, leaning to the other side of the bed, he grabbed a pillow and chucked it at his brother who hisses and throws it back in retaliation.

“Stop fighting me and tell me what’s going on with you. Why do you randomly start ignoring everything?” Sirius asks in a tone that was just shy of not being demanding, because he knew better. Demanding anything of Regulus was never going to get any results.

All the younger Black did was huff and look away. James gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, but dutifully kept his mouth shut like Sirius had asked him to, clearly trying to be there for both sides without interfering. What an unlucky spot James had found himself in.

“Just tell me what’s going on.” Sirius pleads. “We can kick everyone else out if you don’t want them to know”

“Like you wouldn’t just tell them anyway.” Regulus scoffed.

“I won’t.” Sirius promised, holding out a pinky.

“Really? We aren’t five.” Regulus remarks, eyeing the appendage.

“I distinctly remember someone forcing me to make a pinky promise to write when I was eleven and going off to Hogwarts my first year, even though someone didn’t bother replying.” Sirius states with a pointed look, and watches in amusement as the tips of Regulus’s ears turned pink.

“Whatever.” Regulus muttered, then sighed, looking back at the offered finger. “...Do they know about that?” He inquires, gesturing to the slight shake of Sirius’s hand.

“I-...” Sirius blows out a breath, pushing a stray piece of hair out of his face in the process. “Yeah. They know about this and the nerve pain.” He says, holding out his hand flatly to show the tremors properly.

“Then they can stay.” Regulus decides, crossing James’s hand over to the opposite side so it wrapped the arm it was attached to around Regulus’s body. Getting the hint, James wrapped both arms tightly around Regulus’s waist, resting his chin on the younger’s shoulder to provide more points of contact. Sirius eyed the interaction with a knowing look but said nothing.

“Do you remember the curse she tried before that one?” Regulus inquired, gesturing to his brother’s shaky hands. 

“‘Course I do. It’s almost as much of a bitch to shake off as Mother is in general.” Sirius huffed.

“Yeah, well, I never learned to shake it off, and prolonged usage of that curse has its own effects.” Regulus explained as vaguely as he could, but he could pinpoint when the information seemed to clock.

“No.” Sirius denies, leaning backwards as if the distance would change anything; as if it would give him a new perspective. “Why would she- you always do what she wants. She shouldn’t have-”

“You never thought it was odd how much of a perfect little puppet I was for her ?” Regulus spits out the words, and watches Sirius pale as he realizes that they were his own. “ She didn’t want another failure, and she figured out that I couldn’t shake it off like you could after the first dozen times.” He explains with a shrug.

“ Fuck! ” Sirius cursed, scanning Regulus over as if that would reveal some additional information. “Fuck! Okay- I’m gonna hug you.” Sirius decides, reaching out, but making sure to give enough time for him to doge if he didn’t want the contact.

A quick glance is shared between the bonded pair before James is nudging the younger’s upper body closer to his brother while keeping his arms firmly wrapped around Regulus’s waist. The hug is crushingly tight, but somehow makes it a little easier for Regulus to breathe.

“I’m sorry.” Sirius apologies, only for Regulus to shake his head.

“Not your fault.” The younger Black brother protests.

“But it is!” Sirius states, pushing his brother back just enough that their eyes could meet. One a blueish silver, while the other was a greenish shade of gray. “If I hadn’t-”

“It’s not your fault Siri.” Regulus interrupts with a sad sorta smile and a tilt of his head. “No matter how you want to explain it. The situation wasn’t anymore your fault that it was mine.”

When Sirius opened his mouth to say something, Regulus just covered it with his hand, rendering the older Black brother incapable of speaking in a manner that would be understood.

“If you say it’s your fault again at any point in this conversation, you’ll lose speaking privileges the magic way.” Regulus threatens, only to quickly remove his hand with a look of disgust. “You’re such a child.” Regulus hissed, wiping the saliva off his hand and onto Sirius’s shirt.

“You’re the one who covered my mouth.” Sirius shrugged. “You should know better than that by now.” He says, pulling Regulus in for another tight hug. “Okay.” Sirius sighed letting his brother go. “What were you saying ‘bout your after effects?”

Resettling in James’s lap, Regulus took to explaining that his random bouts of ignoring people wasn’t actually him ignoring anything, he’s just not mentally conscious, which is called dissociation. It takes a while to explain the various states of dissociation he’s fallen into, but by the end of the conversation, the marauders, who hadn’t already known about his episodes, have a decent understanding of the situation. It was only when he was explaining the lengths of time that Regulus started getting annoyed.

“Yes. Yes. Five hours, such a long time.” Regulus waves off dismissively, trying to continue the conversation, but the three teens who hadn’t already known this information were starting to freak out over such a minor detail. “It’s not that bad.” He tries to placate them.

“It’s five hours.” Peter points out. “Just- missing! Gone from your memory even though you were physically there!”

“And?” Regulus questioned with a raised brow.

“Does it not bother you?” Remus asks curiously. To which Regulus could only shrug in response.

“Like I said, it’s not horrible. I prefer it over that curse at the very least.” Regulus answers.

“...do they feel different?” Sirius asked hesitantly. “The-” he waves his hand around, “dissociation and the curse?”

“They do.” Regulus informs him. “Episodes are only a few seconds for me, and as long as I reorient myself, no one notices… The curse on the other hand,” Regulus begins, leaning back further into his bonded, who squeezes him just on the right side of too tight. “I have to sit through the entire length of time. I’m aware, I can see and hear everything I do and say but can’t make myself stop no matter how much I try.” Breathing out a humorless laugh Regulus says. “If you think five hours is bad, you should try being put under for an entire year.”

It’s only when the room goes silent that Regulus realizes his mistake. The exact length of time he’s been put under wasn’t something he had meant to share.

“ What the fuck !” Sirius growled, magic sizzling through the air, making his curls become a wild bush of hair.

“Stop that.” Regulus orders with a pout, fussing over his own, now frizzy, hair. Family magics causing his own to react on instinct.

“No! What do you mean Mother put you under for a year!? When was this!?” Sirius questioned, not bothering to reign in his power in the slightest.

Sighing, Regulus ran a hand through his mess of curls, already dreading the long wash process he’ll have to go through to get them laying right once more.

“Do you remember when the gossip of your sorting ceremony reached them and they sent you a howler?” Regulus prompted, earning a harsh growl.

“They put you under for that!?”

“Mhm.” Regulus hummed in agreement, eyeing the other two room occupants with a touch of concern. Peter was visibly shaking and shrinking away from the out pour of raw magic flowing off the Black brothers, while Remus had just gotten up off his bed and looked to be gritting his teeth as he approached. The werewolf settled behind Sirius and pulled him into his lap, trying to sooth his own bonded. It was interesting to watch the process of a soulbond being used as a calming device from an outside perspective, watching as Sirius seemed to melt back into the touch even as he tried to hold on to his anger.

“That’s why you didn’t respond to the letters.” Sirius realized a little numbly as his magic began to fizzle out, allowing Regulus’s own magic to settle as well. “I was just teasing you ‘bout that! You didn’t think to let me know it was a bad memory!?” Sirius scolded him.

Regulus shrugged in response, watching curiously as Remus sorted through each cluster of curls, trying to get them to lay somewhat presentable.

It took a while to get the older Black brother to calm completely, and by the time Remus had accomplished that, it was well past curfew, so Regulus ended up staying over in the Gryffindor dormitory. Sirius had only been waiting for his agreement to stay over before dragging him off to the bathroom to properly fix their hair, shoving Regulus into the tiled room.

“We're not going to see them for a while.” Remus sighs, once the door clicks shut.

“Oh definitely. You know how long it takes Pads to do his hair. Doing his and Regulus’s hair? We won't see them for at least two hours.” James states, getting up from his bed to stretch now that he wasn't being kept in place. “You okay over there Wormy?” He asks worriedly.

“Me?” Peter inquires. “I think the real question is how are you two okay! You felt Sirius’s magic going haywire too and seemed completely fine!”

“We've felt his magic before.” Remus pointed out. “After the first two times you can kinda get used to it.” He shrugged, getting off James’s bed to do his own stretching.

“Yeah- exactly ! We're kinda used to Sirius going haywire. But Sirius and Regulus? Nuh-uh. You have to admit it was intense.” Peter points out.

“Come on Pete. I think you're exaggerating a bit. They weren't that bad.” James says as he pulls open his wardrobe, looking for something to change into for the night.

“No.” Remus denied in Peter’s stead. “He’s got a point about Baby Black making the magic output a little more intense than we’re used to”

“Right!” Peter exclaimed.

James shook his head, grabbing a pair of shorts and a loose long sleeve shirt. Obviously he knew why the out pour of wild magic didn’t bother him as much as the other two but it’s not like he could announce that Regulus is his soulmate so his magic was more soothing than unnerving, and he was already used to Sirius’s bouts of accidental magic following his mood swings. He doesn’t try to defend his opinion that it wasn’t that bad on the off chance that Remus recognizes why due to his own soulbond, so he keeps his mouth shut. He quickly changed, being careful not to expose his mark to the other occupants of the room and stretched out on his bed.

The topic of conversation moves on from the Black brothers and onto finalizing their parts of the end of year prank until Peter decided to call it a night. Then it became a game of keep away where the object he was trying to keep from Remus was the nature of his relationship to the younger Black brother. It was both an easy, yet exhausting challenge, in which he did not manage to escape with being asked if he was dating Regulus. After a denial, Remus switched to asking if he had a crush, to which James had just shrugged, saying he hadn’t really thought too much on the topic. A chuckle along with a sympathetic pat of the shoulder was offered in response to James’s answer before the topic switched to something safer.

Sirius and Regulus emerge from the bathroom a little over three hours later. Sirius minus his shirt which was being used to scrunch his curls, with the name ‘Remus John Lupin ’ resting proudly on his forearm. Regulus with dripping sleeves that he had most likely refused to roll up, but unlike Sirius, his hair wasn’t damp in the slightest. That was probably the difference between their curls. The fact that Sirius allowed a little of the moisture to sit and dry naturally, leading to a slightly wilder look, while Regulus dried his completely, keeping each cluster neat and organized.

“Hey Prongs? Can Reggie borrow some clothes from you?” Sirius asked with a pointed look that was a little too knowing for someone unaware of the nature of the bonded pairs relationship.

“Yeah, sure.” James agreed easily, sitting up with ease. He climbed off the bed and wandered back to his wardrobe pulling out a pair of sweats and his quidditch jumper, knowing that his bonded tended to run cold. “Here ya are.” He says, handing the fabric over with a gentle smile.

Regulus hummed, taking the offered clothes before disappearing back into the bathroom to change while the other bonded pair took to whispering among themselves. There were a few too many glances in James’s direction for him to not have a decent guess as to the topic of conversation. Sighing, he reseatled on his bed once again, laying on his side so he could watch the couple talk back and forth. He catches a word or two every once in a while, mainly from Sirius getting a little loud with his excited chatter, but from what he can tell, Sirius seems to think that Regulus found his soulmate and that’s why Regulus and him aren’t sure where their relationship stands on the spectrum of romantic and platonic feelings. It was a pretty good guess all things considered. If only Sirius knew how close he was.

The bathroom door opened once more, revealing a very adorable Regulus Black, who was practically swimming in James’s jumper. The sound of the door opening drew the couple's attention, and of course, Sirius had to take the time to coo over just how adorable his little brother looked in Gryffindor colors. He then dragged the younger teen over to his bed instead of joining Remus like he usually would. It looked like the Black brother’s would be sharing a bed for the night. That was good. Definitely a step in the right direction in regards to the complex relationship that is the Black brothers.

Chapter Text

Packing the last of his things away in his trunk, James closed and latched the case shut. A glance around the room showed Peter still packing away his own things, Sirius pacing in front of his area, and Remus, being the only one smart enough to pack the day before, leaning against the edge of Sirius’s bed, watching his bonded pace. 

Since Remus was already keeping an eye on Sirius, James decided to make himself useful. Stepping up to Peter’s side, he handed his childhood friend a few of the items he had yet to pack away, receiving a grin from his friend.

“Thanks, mate.” Peter chirped cheerfully in that tone that implied he was going to go digging for information. “What’s the plan for this summer?” Peter inquired while packing. “I know Hope is going to keep Moony home for the first few weeks before she lets him run off to join us.” Remus nodded along, agreeing with the, well known by this point, tradition of his mother keeping him home for some family time. “I’ll be just down the road and will be free whenever, well, besides when I’ll be helping mum out, but that’s a give in.” He explains, then pointedly glances at their pacing friend before looking back back to James. “What are the occupants of Potter manor going to be up to while waiting for everyone to be free?”

“I’m honestly not sure.” James says, plopping down on Peter’s bed. He blew out a breath as he thought over how the summer would potentially go. “Mum will probably fuss over us a bit. Dad will want some time in the lab with us.” He shrugged, unsure what else to say.

“And how many is us referring to?” Peter asks gently, and James hates that his friend thinks he needs to be handled as if he were fragile. He hates that he has the knowledge about mental health that makes him agree with how Peter was going about asking this specific question.

“That depends on what Reg and his friends have planned.” James sighed. “So two, with the potential for a third to join at some point.”

The name ‘Reg’ seemed to be a trigger for the grim animagus, as it makes him stop his pacing, turning sharply in their direction.

“Il rentre à la maison avec nous, n'est-ce pas?” Sirius questions immediately. 

“He’s not going back to Grimmauld Place.” James says instead of answering the question.

“il ne vient pas?” Sirius asks with furrowed brows before his eyes widened with some type of realization. “Il ne va pas partir.” He breathed out. “S'il ne part pas, il les choisira. Il les choisit toujours!”

“He didn’t usually have a choice in what he did.” James reminds him with narrowed eyes, causing Sirius to flinch back as if he had been physically attacked, but he doesn’t break eye contact with James, just grits his teeth and balls his hand into fists.

“Hey.” Remus calls, interrupting the stare off the self proclaimed brothers had found themselves in. He turned away from James, pushing off where he had been leaning against Sirius’s bed. He walked up to his boyfriend’s side. Taking his white-knuckled fists in hand he gently pried them open so the nails were no longer biting into his palms. “English, sweetheart. Not all of us are fluent in French,” He reminded his bonded with a pointed look at James, who was the only one present besides Sirius that was fluent. “And I can’t help if I don’t know what you’re getting worked up over.”

“Il ne viendra pas à la maison avec moi-”

“Breath.” Remus instructs, bringing Sirius’s hands to his chest as he takes exaggerated breaths. “Good. Now try again.”

“Il ne le fera pas- Ma petite étoile won’t leave them. He won’t.” Sirius stressed, looking at James, who had just opened his mouth to defend Regulus, but Sirius continued talking as if he hadn’t noticed. “Self-preservation, not bravery. That’s why. That’s the difference. He’s always done what he needs to to keep himself safe- and thank merlin for that, while I’ve always spoken out for what I believe. That’s why we sorted how we did. That’s why he won’t leave!”

“Breath, cariad.” Remus reminded his boyfriend.

“He won’t do it.” Sirius chokes out as Remus pulls him to his chest, wrapping his long arms around his waist.

“Self-preservation, not bravery.” James mutters, repeating Sirius’s words, as if tasting them on his tongue would help his thought process as he comes up with what to say. Something that wouldn’t further upset his best friend that wasn’t just meaningless platitudes. Something that wasn’t belittling of what his bonded has been through, has done, would have done if he hadn’t been stopped.

Running a hand through his hair, James took a deep breath.

“Sirius,” He called for his friend's attention. “He’s not going back to Grimmauld Place. He won’t go back there- ever, because of his self-preservation.”

“If it’s so self-preserving to leave, then why didn’t he leave with me the first time?”

James shook his head.

“That’s still a question for-”

“For Reggie.” Sirius finished for him, pulling away from his boyfriend. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” He muttered disappointedly, moving to grab his bags. He began shoving his things into the case, only for Remus to take the items and replace them with more care.

“Why don’t you two head down and grab us a carriage so we don’t end up separated?” Remus suggested as he helped Sirius pack. “We’ll join you in a bit.”

Peter and James shared a look before agreeing; taking the hint that Remus wanted his bonded alone for a little while so he could properly check if Sirius was okay. They shrunk down their bags, storing them away in their pockets and left the dorms.

“Sorry about that.” Peter sighs as they walk through the halls.

“About what?” James questions curiously.

“I didn’t think my question would lead to that.” Peter states with a frown. “Didn’t mean to get Padfoot all worked up.”

“It happens.” James reassures him. “Pads was already pretty wired from the stress of everything.

“Still…” He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

“What were you trying to get out of me?” James asked, helping Peter along in the conversation by giving him an anchor point.

“How you’re doing with this whole situation.” Peter informs him with a shrug. “You’ve been working non-stop trying to get Baby Black back for Sirius the legal way. I sorta figured you’d be stressed or something.”

James considered his words, acknowledging that he has been stressed but not horribly. The worst of it had been on that first night when he had pulled Regulus from the edge, and earlier this week when Dorcas had dragged James into the snake pit to take care of a panicking Regulus. Panicked, because he thought he might have to go back, and he couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t survive going back, and he knew the death would have been at Regulus’s own hand. James had to talk Regulus off the, thankfully metaphorical, edge that night.

“I’ve actually been pretty okay. Jillian’s helped a lot with everything and is probably due for a raise with all the trouble I’ve given her this time ‘round.” James joked, earning a chuckle.

“But really- you’re doing good?”

“Yeah.” James agreed with a smile, running his hand through his hair, thinking of what he’s gained, of what he has now that seemed impossible before. “I’ll be better if whatever Reg’s snakes have planned works out and I get that confirmation letter, but I’m not overly stressed.”

“Alright. Good.” Peter cheered as they exited the castle.

The carriage they chose already had some people in it on account of the marauders being a tad late for the early morning departures. When Sirius and Remus joined them it hadn’t been more than ten minutes, but they still ended up leaving just barely before noon.

Peter was carrying most of the conversation with their traveling mates. Remus had a book in hand and an arm thrown over Sirius’s shoulder so he wasn’t much for talking. James joined when he could. Sirius was still a ball of nerves, unable to sit still for long without switching how he was sitting, bouncing his leg, or playing with his curls. He still tried to join conversations though, so the other marauders weren’t too worried. 

The carriage landed with the usual amount of care, jostling them slightly as the wheels made contact with the pavement, and then they were free to leave. They boarded the Hogwarts express, making their way to their usual compartment. Sirius was the one at the front of the group since he couldn’t sit still, and was off the carriage first, so he was the one to open the compartment door. For some reason he didn’t enter, he just stared. Peering inside revealed Pandora Rosier sitting with a black cat curled in her lap.

“Oh good! You’re here.” Pandora cheered, causing the cat to wake up, lifting its head to look at them. “Come sit. I have a favor to ask.”

“Uh, what favor?” Sirius questioned dumbly, staring at Regulus’s friend, but he did step inside the compartment, taking his usual seat, allowing the other marauders to do the same.

“I was wondering if you could watch Étoile for the summer.” Pandora proposed.

“Étoile?”

Pandora gestured to the cat in her lap that was currently staring with half-lidded eyes, clearly having just woken up and wanting to go back to sleep.

“You want us to watch your familiar for the summer?” Remus inquired.

“Mhm. I just need you to keep him at Potter manor for the summer.”

“Why?” James couldn’t help but ask.

Pandora just smiled sweetly, picking up the cat off her lap, and dumping him onto James’s lap, much to his surprise. However surprised he was, that didn't stop James from lifting his hand to the cat's nose in an offered greeting. Étoile leaned forward, rubbing his cheek against his hand and the warm buzzing that he had come to associate with touching his bonded became present, causing James to choke on air.

“Oh? And you named him Star?” James asked with a strangled voice, earning him some odd looks from the other marauders, but James didn’t really care because what the fuck .

“Étoile,” Pandora corrects, then shrugs, “Although, I suppose it does mean star. It was going to be Leo, but Regulus vetoed that one.”

Remus raised a brow at that.

“The distraction technique, while very effective on James, especially when it’s something tactile, is not all that effective on the rest of us- well , it’s also effective on Sirius, but he wasn’t the target, so the rest of us are still questioning why Etoile needs to stay at Potter manor.” The werewolf points out.

“Too bad I can’t tell you, but I’m sure you’ll figure out why later,” Pandora answers, smiling sweetly at James. “You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?”

“Of course!” James chirped while running his hands through long, silky, black fur, earning a soft rumble of purrs.

“Good.” Pandora giggled, turning to face the other three boys. Her expression sobered as her lips parted to speak. “Make sure you’re seen leaving the express without a Reg. We made a scene getting on so it would be well known that Regulus did make it on the train, so you’ll need to make a scene when getting off so it’s known you didn’t take him with you.”

“But he is coming with us, right?” Sirius inquired, voicing the same question that had got him so worked up earlier that morning.

“Regulus won’t be. Not yet, but he won’t be returning to the Black family home either, and that is all I can say.” Pandora informs them. “Most of this plan relies on plausible deniability, so when someone asks you later, you can say you don’t know where Regulus is.”

“What about when they question you?” Peter asked worriedly.

“We’ll be questioned but we have work-around answers and the cunning to pull this off.” She offered them a too sharp smile. “Slytherins, remember? Pulling off a stunt like this is practically what we’re taught to do.”

“Right.” Sirius acknowledged in a clipped tone.

“Well, I better get back to my friends.” Pandora announced, standing up from her spot, she bent down and placed a kiss to the top of Étoile’s head. “Take care and be safe.”

Étoile huffed, stretched, then resettled, watching the younger Rosier twin leave.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful. They played a few rounds of explosion snap, took naps, read, talked, and in Sirius’s case, repositioned how he was sitting over a hundred times, clearly trying to get rid of the extra nerves. The whole not interacting with Regulus or at least saying goodbye was clearly getting to the older Black brother, so much so that Étoile had jumped from James’s lap to Sirius and demanded attention in an attempt to distract him.

At the end of the trip, Étoile went back to James, climbing up to drape himself over James’s shoulder and then they were off to meet up with their families. Their goodbyes were loud and attention grabbing, just as Pandora had requested. Peter said his goodbyes first, laughing and joking before giving them all hugs, shouting about how he would see them soon before stepping into the fireplace to disappear in a burst of smoke. Remus was next, saying goodbye to James before turning to kiss Sirius sweetly, disappearing to join his parents once he had spotted them, leaving the two teens and a cat alone at the platform.

Sirius had tensed up when he spotted the Black family’s house elf, but James had ushered him away so he wouldn’t start making the type of scene they really don’t need. Sure they were ask to draw attention so people could vouch for the fact that Regulus wasn’t with them, but interacting with anyone from the house of Black was not in Sirius’s best interest. Not long after they spotted Kreacher, they found Euphemia and Fleamont.

“There you are.” Euphemia greeted them. “Look at you both- you’ve grown since I saw you last.”

“No we didn’t.” James counters. “At least Sirius didn’t.”

“Fuck off. You and Moony are just giants. Wormtail and I are perfectly tall for our age.” Sirius argued, earning some laughter from the adults.

“And who’s your little friend?” Fleamont inquired curiously, reaching out to offer a hand for the cat to sniff, which he didn’t do. Instead, Étoile leaned his head away, eyeing James’s dad with suspicion.

“This is Étoile.” James introduced the cat, stroking his cheek to get Étoile to resettle on his shoulders so he wasn’t leaning so far one way. “I was asked to bring him home for a bit.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Euphemia asked.

James blinked, once, twice; stalling to find an answer.

“Uh-”

“We’ll figure it out later, apparently.” Sirius says with a roll of his eyes. “He’s the younger Rosier’s familiar.”

“Pandora Rosier, yes? She’s one of your brother’s friends right?” 

“Yup.” Sirius agrees, rocking forward from his heels to his toes and back.

“Alright then. I suppose we shall uncover the mystery of our new friend at a later date.” Fleamont says with a clap of his hands. “Let’s get you boys settled back home.”

Chapter Text

Étoile stayed draped around James’s neck as they arrived at Potter manor and the boys went about settling back in. James showed Étoile around his room, allowing the cat to curl up on his bed and watch as he unpacked his things. After an hour or so, when most of his things had been unpacked, there was a knock on his door. Opening it revealed Mipsy standing politely before it as Sirius stepped out of his own room.

“The Mistress be calling the young Masters for dinner, she is.” Mipsy informs him.

“Thank you, Mipsy.” James says, turning to look at the cat who hadn’t even lifted his head. “Are you coming to eat, Étoile?”

Étoile opened his eyes, looked at James, and then closed his eyes once more.

“Alright then. Could you bring something for Étoile to eat? Some unflavored meat or fish or something?” James requested.

“Mipsy can feed the young master's cat, while the young master be eating.” The house elf agreed.

“Thanks.” James cheered, leaving his room’s doorway. He jogs down the hall to join Sirius, walking down the stairs and falls into their usual chatter regarding the chore of unpacking, organizing all the things they had brought home, and how they somehow always bring home more things then they leave with.

Dinner was a cozy affair. A constant stream of chatter filled the air, joining the smell of fresh, homemade food before being cut off by the sharp sound of a howler. Walburga Black’s shrill voice shrieking that Sirius needed to return Regulus or she would be dragging them both home by force. There were some threats about punishments, traitors, disloyalty, discrasses, and legal action before the letter burned up, leaving no evidence of its existence, but Sirius didn’t seem to care. He was far too relieved that Regulus really hadn’t gone back.

Suspicious of the boy’s behaviour, Euphemia asked if Regulus was safe and if they had anything to do with his disappearance, checking all of her bases, just incase Walburga was serious about the legal action for kidnapping the Black family heir, to which both boys truthfully answered that they didn’t know where Regulus was, just he was supposedly safe. 

After dinner, Sirius joined Euphemia in the kitchen to clean up, bake and probably talk about the whole situation with his little brother, while James joined Fleamont in the potions lab. Étoile was nowhere to be seen until it was time to call it a night and he was found curled up in the back corner of an armchair's cushion. James pet him a few times along the crown of his head before saying goodnight for the evening. The adults retired to the master room, while Sirius invaded James’s, collapsing onto the bed dramatically, but rather predictably. James joined his best friend on the bed, pulling at the covers so they would actually be warm under the blankets. They both crashed from exhaustion relatively fast from traveling lag and stress, but James knew Sirius wouldn’t be this fast to fall asleep tomorrow and would want to stay up worrying.

Fleamont was the one to wake them the next day with the news that Euphemia was entertaining guests.

“They are rather insistent on talking to you both.” Fleamont warns them, before heading out to join his wife.

Turning to Sirius, James asked, “You don’t think she actually got the auras involved, do you?”

“Of course she did. Merlin forbid that bitch ever let us be free of her.” Sirius groans, dragging himself off the bed and across the hall to get dressed.

Getting dressed for the day, James left his room and made his way to the reception hall where he found his parents and two auras talking over tea. Sirius joined them last, eyeing the auras suspiciously, but wisely decided to keep his mouth shut, despite the snarky comments he wanted to make. 

“We’d like to talk with each of you individually.” The shorter of the two auras  inform them. “And given that both boys are of age, this request shouldn't be a problem, correct?”

“Not at all.” Fleamont agreed, fully aware that they just don't want them to have stories that align with one another. “How would you like for us to do this?”

“If you’re agreeable, Lord Potter, we would like to do the interviews under a silencing bubble with the aid of a compulsory truth spell.” The second aura explained.

With the agreement from both parties involved, the auras began their interviews. Starting with James's parents who knew nothing but what was in the howler and the little explanation the boys had given about not knowing where Regulus was. When their interviews were over the auras put Sirius and James under their own bubbles and truth spells.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until James saw that Sirius was released and he wasn’t. His questions were still being asked over and over in slightly different ways in order to get him to trip up and admit to something or other.

“No, I don't know where Regulus is! He could be anywhere-” like in the living room, or kitchen, or who knows where else seeing as he has no confirmation that his assumption about Pandora's familiar is true or not. “And instead of looking for a missing person , you’re asking me the same dozen questions as if my answer has changed since you last asked twenty seconds ago.”

“I'm merely being thorough, Heir Potter.”

“No, you're not. Or you would have some information about how or why Regulus disappeared instead of asking redundant questions.” James pointed out with a scowl.

The aura raised a brow at his chastising statement.

“We are simply being thorough.” The aura repeated. “You are a person of interest when it comes to Heir Black due to the custody filing you are attempting.”

Ah- shit, well, at least they were in silencing bubbles. It gives them the chance to tell his family before they find out from this whole ordeal. Unless the auras have already mentioned it to the others, in which case he might be in for a few lectures and dramatic screams from Sirius.

“A filing that states specifically that my bonded is a danger to himself, and yet you're here, wasting time instead of looking for him?” James asks incredulously. Had he not been given such a bold hint from the younger Rosier twin, he would probably be panicked to all hell trying to make sure Regulus wasn't dead. As it is, all he can do is make an assumption regarding Regulus’s welling, and hope it's correct since he can't confirm anything or else it would be a lie that he didn't know where Regulus was.

“We have other auras looking for your bonded, Heir Potter.” The aura tries to placate him. “But given that you filed for custody without informing Lord and Lady Black, it was deemed necessary to interview you carefully.”

“Well seeing as your interview has gotten us nowhere, how about you let me go so I can go find my bonded?” James suggested, only to earn a head shake from the aura.

“I understand that you are worried about your soulmate but it's best to let the professionals handle this. If there is anywhere you think Heir Black would go, now would be the time to inform us.” The aura explained patiently.

“I'm not sure where he would go if he didn’t come here.” James states simply. The fewer words the better at this point.

“If Regulus shows up-”

“He'll stay here.” James cut the aura off. “If he shows up then we'll have a room ready for him and he'll stay here under my custody.”

“If the Department of Wiccan Children's Safety gives their approval then of course he can stay here once he's found. You would just need to let us know if Heir Black shows up so we can question him on his whereabouts.”

“No. We'll send a letter to his missing person's case worker, but that's all. He won't be questioned when he's in who knows what state mentally and physically. Our family healer will take care of Regulus if he shows up here instead of being found by your department.” James informs them. “Now if that's all, I'd appreciate being let go so I can check on Sirius. His little brother is missing and he's never done well when stressing over him.”

“Of course. We shall do our best to find Heir Black. Please let us know if he shows up here.” The aura says while canceling the silencing bubble.

The two auras were escorted out by Fleamont while Euphemia led the boys to the dinning room for an early lunch. During which Étoile finally made an appearance, eating his own plate of food at one of the previously empty spots at the table.

Sirius immediately decided that the topic of conversation for that morning was why James had been questioned so long, to which James had to explain that the paperwork they had been waiting to go through made him a person of interest, but given that he said he didn’t know where Regulus was while under the influence of a compulsory truth spell, they didn’t think he was hiding him.

“They do want me to send a letter when he shows up though. If the paperwork has already been processed and we have the go ahead then it’s just so they can call off the case, but if not, then it’s so they can return Regulus to Grimmauld Place.” James explains.

“Which we aren’t doing.” Sirius states, pointing his fork at James as if to emphasize his decision.

“Of course not.” James scoffed. “I was just telling you what they said, and it’s not like Regulus will make an appearance before we have the confirmation that he’s out of the Black’s custody. That would ruin the whole point of him disappearing.”

“What exactly was the point in your brother’s disappearance?” Fleamont asked.

“And what is this paperwork you keep referencing?” Euphemia inquired.

“The answer to both questions is kinda the same.” James says, lifting a hand to scratch one of Étoile’s ears. “But it’s to get Regulus out of their custody so he doesn’t have to go back to Grimmauld Place.”

“How exactly does this paperwork remove Regulus from Walburga and Orion’s custody? If it claims them as unsuitable parents then they can refute it, remember? It’s why we didn’t take Sirius in, legally speaking.” Fleamont reminded them.

“...Can I explain the paperwork later? Regulus didn’t want to tell anyone unless it worked. Peter had just caught me meeting with Reg one time and asked questions, which I answered, and you know how he is with secrets.” James explains as Étoile climbs onto the table and walks until he is right in front of James. He makes to jump, so James picks him up instead and allows Étoile to crawl up onto his shoulders, draping himself like a silky fur scarf.

“When do you think you’ll get this confirmation letter?” Sirius asks, leaning forward in his seat.

“Well, we were hoping to get it during the last week of school, but now it will probably be this week or the next.” James answered, running a hand through soft black fur. “I don’t know for sure, though. Hopefully soon.”

Soon, as it turned out, was six days later.

On one afternoon after dinner, with time slipping farther into the evening, James had been having a lay in. Sirius had disappeared to work on his motorbike for the day, leaving James to his own devices, and since he was alone, Étoile had decided to curl up under his chin in the space made in the crook of his arms while laying on his side. His hands had been idly playing with the smooth fur coat when a bird came through the window he had left open to allow the warm summer air in.

Groaning, James sat up, careful not to dislodge Étoile from his comfortable position. He got up and grabbed the letter from the owl, watching it fly off as soon as it was delivered. Looking down he saw the address and felt his heart rate pick up.

“Regulus.” James breathed, even though he had been oh so careful not to acknowledge what, or who , Étoile might be. “It’s from the Department of Wiccan Children's Safety.” He says, looking up from the envelope to the black cat who was now sitting at attention staring at the letter.

Étoile Meowed, the tone clearly asking a question, but what exactly, James wasn’t. Although he had a feeling that Regulus would also like to know what the DWCS said in regards to Regulus’s custody.

Sitting back on the bed so that Étoile could climb into his lap and also see the letter, James ripped open the envelope. He held his breath, reading over each word carefully when suddenly he had a lap full of sixteen-year-old male quidditch player, he has the build of a seeker, but still, it was a significant change from cat to person. Arms tightly wrapped around James’s neck as he just held him, muttered something over and over. James just barely makes out the words. “Je suis libre” and “Merci” are repeated over and over, along with his name. Not Potter, like Regulus was known to address him, but James .

“Shh, I have you.” James cooed, rocking them gently. An echo of seven months ago when he had done the same thing to sooth his sobbing newly found soulmate.

“I don’t have to go back.” Regulus whispered, voice muffled against James’s neck, tickling him with the warm breath on exposed skin.

“You never have to go back.” James reassures his bonded, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Regulus pulls back, looking at James as he opens his mouth to say something when the door to James’s room is thrown open and Sirius walks in with a large grin, covered in grease stains, only to freeze at the sight before him.

“Uh, when did- What were… should I come back later?” Sirius asked teasingly unsure which question to ask first.

James held up the envelope with the DWCS addressing, which Sirius promptly snatched up, only for there to be nothing inside.

“What?” Sirius asked, confused by the empty letter. To which Jamse held up the paper that actually said the result of all the paperwork the bonded pair had been working on. When Sirius reached for that too, James pulled it out of his range.

“How do you want to tell him about this?” James whispered to Regulus.

About them being soulmates.

About Regulus trying to kill himself.

About Regulus being free.

“I’ve got it.” Regulus decides, taking the paper from James and climbing out of his lap. “Come on Siri.” He says, dragging Sirius out of James’s room, across the hall, and into Sirius’s room.

“What’s going on?” Sirius questioned as soon as they stopped moving. “Was it a no? Did whatever it was you two were working on not work?” He frowned, watching as Regulus pushed open the window and climbed out. “Reggie, where are you going?”

“Let’s go look at the stars.” Regulus said, bring back a flash of memories where a younger Regulus would suggest that after helping to bandage him up for taking a beating that had been mentally for the younger.

“Alright.” Sirius agrees easily, climbing out the window to follow him to a decent spot on the roof.

They sit on the roof for a while. The silence between them buzzing with tension just like it used to when they did this back at Grimmauld Place under the cover of night.

“How have the stars been?” Sirius asked cautiously, staring up at the sky.

The single question tugging at something deep in Regulus’s chest. It was a code they used to check in on each other incase someone was listening and they couldn't afford to truly ask. They haven’t used it in years. Too much fighting and avoiding one another to bother with something like a question when it was so much easier to assume how the other was feeling instead.

“I couldn’t see any stars for a while.” Regulus admits, looking down at the garden below instead of up at the sky. He gave a humorless chuckle. “I really couldn't see them, Siri. I can now- I can see the stars and they are quite lovely, but for a while there…” He trailed off, feeling his brother’s hand wrap around his, squeezing it comfortingly. Maybe that's what gave him the courage to admit what he did.

“It was bad, Siri. I tried to jump from the astronomy tower.”

Sirius sucked in a sharp breath.

“You did what?!” The older Black brother managed to choke out.

“I tired to kill myself.” Regulus repeated, more confidently then the first admission which had barely been a whisper carried in the wind.

“Why? Why would you-” Sirius choked, and Regulus knew if he looked he would find his brother crying.

“I couldn’t find a way out, and I couldn’t go back to that house with those people and be made into their puppet again. I just couldn’t do it, so I tried to jump.” Regulus explained, feeling his brother tighten his hold and pull him back, more firmly away from the edge, earning a chuckle. “I wouldn’t jump from here, Siri. It’s high enough to hurt but not enough to do anything that isn’t a simple inconvenience.”

Sirius scoffed.

“Sorry for worrying when you’ve clearly thought about jumping from here before!” He hissed, still pulling him closer until Regulus was under Sirius’s arm in a half hug embrace.

“I always think about it, Siri. I think about what would happen if I fell off my broom when I got high enough in the air. I think about what would happen if I ran my potions knife along the veins on my wrist. I think about what would happen if I went under water in the tub and just didn't come up for air.” Regulus lists off like it was a normal thought process. “The knife would hurt and I don’t think I would ever be able to follow through. There’s too much of a chance I would stop myself mid drowning. Potion overdose would be my best bet, but someone would notice the stockpiling of a potion and you can only buy so many at once if you can’t make your own. Which leaves jumping.” He sighed, slumping into his brother’s too tense body beside him. “ They save you . Those were my words, remember?”

“...You actually met your soulmate?” Sirius sniffled, looking for at least something positive to distract from the negative. He had always been one to do that. Either he found something good, or he made the good himself, but more often than not, Sirius being the bright star he is, attracted the good to him.

“Mhm.” Regulus hummed, handing over the letter, much to Sirius’s confusion.

Sirius cased a wordless and wandless lumos, making an orb of light appear beside him so he could read over the letter as he unfolded it. He sucked in a sharp breath when he got to the part that probably names who his soulmate was, and turned to look his brother in the eyes.

Blue-gray met Green-gray.

“ James ?” Sirius asked incredulously.

The silent, he would have told me, hanging in the air between them.

“I asked James what his mark said, because I knew you had to have seen his at some point, and if it said what I thought it said, which it did, then you would know what I tried to do the second he told you we are soulmates. And I didn't want you to find out like that.” Regulus tells him simply. “I didn't want you to find out at all, but I knew it would come up if the custody change went through.” He admits with a shrug.

“...Your friends know, don't they? That's why they kept pushing you two together.” 

Regulus hummed in agreement.

“James made me tell one adult, his mind healer, and my friends, that I tried to jump so they could keep an eye on me and be my support system.” Regulus explained.

“And you didn't want any support from me, your brother.” Sirius realized, sounding a bit betrayed but mostly confused about the whole thing.

Regulus chanced a glance up from where he was resting his head on Sirius’s shoulder, eyeing his brother as he weighed his next comment carefully.

“I honestly thought you hated me after I didn't leave with you.” Regulus informs him gently, just loud enough to be heard by his brother and nothing more.

“No! I would never hate you, Reggie. You're my little brother. I was just pissed off ‘cause I thought they had finally gotten to you. That you thought what they did, what they said was fine and you wanted to stay, but you didn’t want to be there any more than I did, did you, ma petite Étoile?” Sirius questioned, arm wrapped tightly around Regulus’s shoulders as the younger Black brother shook his head. “Then why did you?”

“ They would have taken us both back there if we left together.”

“They wouldn’t have-”

“Yes they would have, because they need an heir. The only reason they didn’t go after you was because they had the spare and you weren’t exactly needed even if you were the heir they would have preferred.”

Sirius pulled away so he could force them to be face to face. His green-gray eyes meet Regulus’s blue-gray.

“You shouldn’t have traded your freedom for my own.” Sirius tells him sternly. “I would have stayed behind if only one of us could leave.”

“And you would have died in that house .” Regulus cut off that train of thought immediately. “I knew you would have stayed behind for me, which is why I had to do it the way I did. I needed you to think I would be okay staying there .”

“But you weren’t!” Sirius pointed out. “You weren’t okay- you were dying in that house just as much as I was! The only reason you’re not dead is because James-” Sirius choked, letting go of Regulus to scrub his tears away.

Regulus offered a chuckle in response.

“How messed up is it that seeing you cry over my attempt actually makes me feel better?” Regulus asked, earning a snort from his brother.

“Very.” Sirius informs him.

Regulus shrugged.

“I thought you hated me, remember? You crying over my death was sorta the best I was hoping for.”

“Fuck- we are so messed up.” Sirius says through a watery laugh of his own. “Come on, let’s get you back to your boyfriend before he freaks out.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Regulus corrects him. His pale skin doing nothing to hide his blush.

“Right, and I didn’t walk in on the two of you about to kiss.” Sirius drawls sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “Come on, ma petite Étoile. Back inside with you. Maybe we can find the other  Étoile.”

Regulus laughed, diving through the window and landing on all fours in his cat form.

“You!” Sirius shreeks, turning to face Regulus. “You’re an animagius?!”

Étoile simply flicked his tail and disappeared through Sirius's bedroom door that they had left cracked open.

“Get back here!” Sirius laughs incredulously.

Chapter Text

It was the early hours of the morning when Regulus woke up, not in his animagus form, but in his human one, tucked under the chin and arms of his soulmate who slept on, undisturbed. The sun was just beginning to peek through the windows, still low in the sky, slow and unbothered as it rose, knowing that the world will wait for it. For the light and warmth alone, the world would wait.

Regulus felt a little like that as he lay wrapped in James’s arms. The pleasant humm of his soulbond pressed into any place where his skin had become exposed from the shifting of James’s too big clothing and was pressed into James’s own skin. Cool, pale, silvery skin that was littered in freckles against warm unblemished skin of a contrasting golden hue. He was awake out of habit more so than the wish to be, but he didn’t mind being awake all that much at the moment. 

Stretching out his body in a way not dissimilar to the mannerisms of his animagus form, toes pointed as he extended his legs, fingers spread as his shoulders stretched backwards, arching his back. He curled up immediately following this big stretch, feeling strong arms tighten around his waist pulling him closer to his bonded’s bare chest.

Something soft pressed to his forehead. Warm and lingering before pulling away as James yawned awake. Looking up caused his blue-gray eyes to meet James’s honey-brown that held flecks of green near the center. His eyes were half-lidded as he smiled softly down as Regulus, leaning in to press something soft to his cheek, he pulled back enough to nuzzle their noses together.

“Good morning.” James greets, voice rough with sleep as he blinks slowly, pressing his forehead to Regulus’s.

“Hi.” Regulus breathed in surprise as he realized that the soft presses had been kisses.

James blinked again, a little more awake this time, he pulled back just enough to get a proper look at his bonded.

“Sorry.” James mumbled, removing the arm that was thrown over Regulus’s waist to rub at his eyes. “Was that too much?” He asked, returning his arm to where it had been resting previously. As if that was the most natural place for it to be.

“No. Just- wasn't expecting it, I suppose.” 

James hummed before leaning down to press a kiss to his nose, then another to his cheek, then his jaw. Stopping as his lips lined up with Regulus's ear.

“Too much?” He asked again, feeling the slight shiver that went through Regulus as the warm breath of his whispers met his ear. 

“No.” Regulus denies, pressing into the warm body that seemed to surround him. The buzz of a content soulmate mixing with the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach and the swirl of his magic, dizzyingly intoxicating, warm and addicting in the amount of care in each moment. He leaned his head further to the side, exposing more of his neck, silently asking for more.

When he didn’t continue, Regulus asked, “Again,” and who was James to deny his bonded.

Lips traveled across pale skin, following the constatations of freckles as he tugged the collar of his oversized hoodie out of the way. He loved how Regulus sucked in sharply when his lips had first grazed the skin of his neck. He loved how Regulus let out a content breath, sinking into James's hold as his warm lips began sucking lightly on his pulse point, mouthing up along Regulus’s jaw. He wanted more of this peaceful, touch-starved beauty that laid before him, but he pulled away instead, pressing another kiss to Regulus’s cheek before stopping.

Regulus opened his eyes to see what caused him to stop and found James staring at him with a soft smile, eyes flickering down to his untouched lips occasionally, but Regulus could tell that he was trying rather hard to keep eye contact, even if he was failing miserably.

“James?” Regulus calls gently, pulling his bonded's attention from his lips to his eyes. 

“Is this- what this is, it's a romantic bond, yes?” James asked, unsure of how to phrase his question, but it had been important to ask before he got too caught up in the moment. He had to ask before he could allow himself to truly fall, because he knew he was already in too deep, and all he was waiting on was permission to fall completely in love with this sharp tounged angelic wonder of a boy.

“Yes.” Regulus agrees hesitantly, placing his hands on James’s chest. He ran them up to his shoulders, keeping his touch feather light, just a graze of skin that made the bond hum and James shiver. He stopped with his hand on his neck, fingers playing with the hair on the nape of James’s neck. Then, more confidently he says, “Definitely a romantic bond.” with a small smile playing on his lips.

“Good.” James sighed, nervously letting his eyes flicker down to Regulus’s lips once more.

“Kiss me?” Regulus requested softly.

“Of course.” James agrees with relief, smiling brightly. He ducks down to press his lips to Regulus’s. A gentle press of lips, once, twice, and a third time before pulling away, just enough to tell him, "You don't have to ask, not after this.”

“Okay.” Regulus hums in agreement, pulling his hands from Jame’s hair to cup his cheeks. He pulled him into another kiss. Sweet and slow. 

Neither of them were in any hurry. They had time before the day truly began and Regulus would have to face the start of a far more stressful week. That first week he got away with just being Étoile, a black cat that was allowed to wander as he pleased and napped when he wanted. Something told Regulus that that's not how the second week would go since he'll be staying at Potter manor as a human from now on. At least the morning of the first day was good. Now it was time to face the rest of the day. More specifically, the rest of the people residing in Potter manor.

The turn of a door handle was all the warning they got before the door of James’s bedroom opened. Regulus immediately hid in James’s chest, feigning sleep much to James’s amusement as he looked up and found a sleepy looking Sirius yawning in the doorway.

“Wormy sent word that he’ll be joining us for breakfast.” Sirius says through a yawn, eyeing the supposedly sleeping teen that was curled up in James’s chest. “Nice try Petite Étoile. I invented fake sleeping. What, did I walk in on you two about to make out again?” Sirius chuckled, only to watch James grin sheepishly, and Regulus to continue feigning sleep as if that would make his older brother go away faster. “Holly shit! I did- didn’t I! Not your boyfriend, my ass.” Sirius laughed, earning a groan as Regulus gave up on his attempt to pretend to be sleeping until the interaction was over.

“Shut up, Siri.”

“Never!” Sirius cheers as he continues to cackle maniacally. “I’m so owling Mooney about this.” He says as he disappeared back into his own room, not bothering to close the door behind himself as he went.

The bonded pair sat in the remaining silence for a handful of seconds before James started chuckling.

“What’s this about not being boyfriends?” James asked in a mix of curiosity and amusement.

“Shut up. He asked if we were last night and now he’s being vindictive.” Regulus huffed, turning his body so he was facing away from James but making no move to actually pull away.

“Mmm, I like the sound of boyfriends.” James hummed, pressing a kiss to Regulus’s shoulder.

“Of course you do.” Regulus mutters with a roll of his eyes, but he leans back into James all the same.

“What? You don’t like it?” James teased, pressing more kisses along Regulus’s jaw. “I’m afraid it will have to do until I can visit my family vault.” James whispers in his ear before pulling away to get up, disappearing into the closet, leaving a very confused Regulus curled up on the bed.

Sitting up slowly, as if the additional time it took him to move positions would give him enough time to figure out what his bonded ment. It didn’t, so he settled on asking instead.

“What do you mean, it will have to do?” Regulus inquired as James reemerged dressed in a nice set of casual clothing.

James chuckled while handing over a neatly folded pile of clothing.

“You might have been joking with Evan and Barty about them stealing you away, with them asking for your hand in a betrothal, but your little pureblood heart was a little too invested in the topic of betrothals and the proper customs when you and Dorcas went on that rant.” James informs a now flustered Regulus. “If you don’t actually want to follow customs with a betrothal and want to be boyfriends instead, then we can do that, but I fully plan on visiting the vaults this week to get one of the cuff sets if you’re agreeable.”

Regulus made a strangled noise, somewhat similar to a whine, even if he will deny doing so until the day he dies, and even then his portrait will continue to deny it.

“James.” Regulus called.

“Yes?”

“Stop being thoughtful!” He scolded his soulmate, throwing one of the pillows on the bed at him. Unfortunately, James was a quidditch player and therefore, had no issues catching said pillow.

“No. Now go change, love.” James says, chuckling as he shooed Regulus into the closet to change as he moved to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When Regulus entered the bathroom to brush his own teeth he was dressed in a white button down with vest over it and black slacks that were definitely not the comfy clothing James had handed him. He was also carrying a small back into the bathroom with him.

Placing the bag on the counter, Regulus pulled out a toothbrush and his own toothpaste, so James assumed it was a bag of toiletries. He was proven right when a container of hair potion was pulled out next, and Regulus went about fixing his curls. No longer the charming bedhead look that made him look all soft and cuddly, but the elegant coils with his hair half pinned back with a green ribbon that matched Regulus’s green vest, creating a very aristocratic image.

“I didn’t realize you had your stuff with you.” James remarks as he leans against the counter to watch his bonded get ready.

“I shrunk them and put the bags in my pocket before shifting.” Regulus explained as he took out a face cream that Jame had seen his mum use to cover blemishes with.

“Aw,” James whined. “I like your freckles.”

“Hmm.” Regulus hummed as he covered them in a practiced motion. “Too bad.”

“Do you not like them?” James questioned curiously.

“No. they’re fine. It’s just unbecoming to have anything marking the face.” Regulus tells him, but the words didn’t sound like his own. They sounded rehearsed, like it was something he had heard over and over.

James stilled Regulus’s hand, grabbing the wipes he saw in the open bag of toiletries.

“Is that what you think or what you’ve been told?” James inquired gently, causing Regulus to freeze up. “I know making your own choices is hard.” He continued, “but I’d like you to choose. Do you want to finish your makeup, or go natural with your freckles? I think you look lovely either way, so it’s up to you.”

Taking a deep breath, Regulus continued covering his freckles, his eyes a little glazed over in the way that meant he was moving on muscle memory.

“Good job, love.” James complements, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. “Let’s sit for a little while, then we can join everyone for breakfast. It’s still early enough, we’ve got time before Mipsy comes to get us.” James explained as he led Regulus back to the bed. James sat with his back to the headboard with Regulus in his lap, leaning against him.

Sirius made a reappearance some half hour or so later with a letter in hand that had clearly been opened. He had a teasing look when he saw the bonded pair cuddled together but when James looked at him and offered a sad smile he stopped mid step, reexamining the pair.

“Oh. How long has he been out?” Sirius asked as he walked up to the bedside.

“Not too long. Twenty or so minutes?” James guessed. “We were getting ready for the day when I asked about why he covers his freckles.”

“Because it’s unbecoming to have anything marking the face.” Sirius recites with a mocking tone.

“Yeah, that’s what he said.” James agreed, earning a huff of exasperation.

“So we have mother dearest to thank for this episode.”

“Mmm. Not exactly. He disappeared when I asked him to choose between covering his freckles or leaving them visible.”

“Choices are horrible.” Regulus croaks, blinking hard as he refocused his eye on the person in front of him, his brother.

“I know, love.” James sighed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I won’t have you make any other extra ones today. I Promise.”

“Good, I’ll push all the decision making onto you and see how you like it.” Regulus decides with a huff, wiggling out of James’s hold to get off the bed, accepting Sirius’s offered hand to pull him up onto his feet. He straightened out his vest, raising a brow at the still lounging James who chuckled and got up.

“Trying to make a good first impression on the parents, are we?” Sirius jokes, waggling with eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“Some of us simply have better manners and fashion sense.” Regulus tissked, walking past his brother and out of the room, down the hall, supposedly heading to the dining room.

“Does he even know where he’s going?” Sirius asked with a laugh.

“I’d assume so. He spent enough time wandering the house as Étoile.” James says with a shrug, grabbing a letter off his nightstand before he left, following his bonded, forcing Sirius to jog to catch up.

“Hey! I see how it is, ditching me now that you have the brother!” Sirius huffed dramatically, collapsing over the railing of the stairs, he used it to slide down to the bottom, beating both teens to the main floor. “I guess I’ll just go hangout with the parents then, at least they still love me!” He says skipping away into the kitchen.

Regulus rolled his eyes and continued at the pace he had first set off at, a comfortable walking tempo that showed the confidence of his movements, only hesitating when James intertwined their hands together. It’s something he had done before, a lot, at school, but now it felt different knowing that the bond was romantic and that it was no longer just to passively regulate his mood.

“See!” Sirius exclapes to an exasperated looking Peter, Fleamont, and Euphemia. “He’s replaced me with my brother!”

“I don’t think replace is the right word.” Peter points out, eyeing how their hands were intertwined instead of clasped together like they usually were. The difference making the gesture seem more intimate.

“It’s lovely to meet you Regulus.” Euphemia greets, as she gestures for the boys to take their seats at the table.

James pulled out the chair besides his for his bonded, who sat down with an elegance that has clearly been trained into his bones, before taking his own seat. His dad raised a question brow at the gesture to which James just offered a sheepish grin.

“Oh, here’s the letter from the DWCS, that we had been waiting on.” James says, handing the letter to Mipsy. “If you could pass that to my parents please?”

“Mispsy can do so.” The house elf agreed, handing the letter over to the adults. They read it over carefully while the boys began eating their breakfast.

There was an awkward pause when Euphemia took in a sharp breath with watery eyes, but the pause was quickly interrupted by her getting up from the table and walking up to Regulus. She pulled out his chair enough to give him a hug, much to Peter’s confusion as the only one who hasn’t read the letter. Fleamont was quick to join his wife, offering a few shoulder pats to the quite frankly, bewildered teen.

“You should have told us!” Euphemia scolded James, who had been too busy watching his soulmate flounder under parental affection to properly brace for his parents 'we are disappointed in you’ tone.

“Yeah, Prong. You should have told your parents.” Sirius taunts from across the table where he was enjoying his breakfast and a show.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook! You didn’t tell us either.” Fleamont states.

“Petey, Mooney, and I are innocent as lamb. We knew nothing of this until the letter came last night and I walked in on them cuddled up together.” Sirius says with his hands held up in surrender and a large grin on his lips.

The sigh he received was as amused as it was exasperated.

“We’re so happy to finally know you’re safe.” Euphemia tells Regulus, offering one last squeeze before returning to her spot at the table, resuming breakfast as if she hadn’t just burst into elegant tears over a letter and made a scene.

They end up sending a letter to the auras working on the missing person case that Regulus had shown up at Potter manor and will be staying there for the foreseeable future. An overall, calm ending to the rather hectic planning all of this had taken to pull off.