Chapter Text
This was the second year of Sirius staying with us and it had been amazing. James had almost forgotten how lonely it could be at home before Sirius came. He had become his brother in everything but blood.
Speaking of blood brothers, Regulus hadn't replied to any of Sirius' text or James' for that matter. James had thought he and Reggie had gotten past that point in they're relationship long ago.
Although, that had been before he went back to that house. That awful house that he refuses to leave. Sirius had long since given up on trying to get Reggie to leave but James still had hope. Still tried.
It was a cloudy day. The type of clouds that looked heavy with build up expectations–that should have been his first sign.
A familiar quiet filled the house. Sirius wouldn't be up before eleven anyway—he insisted on hoarding every last drop of sleep before the school year started.
And his parents are gone on some last minute grocery shopping which meant that James was alone. All alone with nothing to do.
And James was bored. So incredibly bored it had to be illegal. He actually debated waking Sirius, fully prepared to brave a barrage of flying hair products if it meant having something—anything—to do.
It was a soft knock ,almost hesitant.
He expected one of those muggle milkman or maybe Peter coming to play board games .
What he wasn't expecting was Regulus all bloody and bruised up. He felt his chest tightening as he took in his Reggies state.
His clothes were soaked with so much blood, it tuned what he remembered to be a dark blue jumper purple. There were cuts all over his exposed skin and purple bruises on his face. One of his eyes was completely red and slightly swollen.
"Hi." Regulus greeted faintly. Though he barely heard it over the raising panic and concern in his head.
James grabbed him gently but hurriedly and practically carried him to the bathroom. Once he had gotten him changed into a clean robe , they sat down on the sofa and James began to clean his wounds or atleast try to.
"You're not going back, right love?" James asked as he tried to clean a slightly larger wound on Regulus' back that was suspiciously belt shaped.
"No."
It was silent for a while after that before James had to ask.
"Do you want to tell me what happened ?"
Regulus paused for so long James had almost thought that was his answer.
"Everything happened as usual. Then my mother called me into her study. She was there with my father and started arguing about the usual things then she slapped me." His voice shook on that last word.
James didn't think it was possible to hate them any more than he did right now.
"You don't have to continue," James said softly.
"I want to," Regulus insisted. "She started hitting me and she wouldn't stop—not even when I passed out from the pain. She even used an Unforgivable Curse on me."
That was surprising. Despite being awful parents, the Blacks had never physically harmed their children before; they had always deemed it beneath them.
"Around four in the morning, I ran away and came straight here," Regulus finished, though it was painfully obvious that he was still hiding something.
But James didn't say anything. Didn't ask him about the hand marks that littered every place it shouldn't.
James was so distracted that he didn't notice Sirius approaching until the sharp smash of breaking glass shattered the quiet. He whipped his head around to find a wide-eyed Sirius staring intently at Regulus.
"Hello, Sirius." Regulus said or rather tried to say in his annoying little aristocratic voice.
James winced internally. He knew all too well how protective Sirius could get over Reggie. Like a few months ago when he unfortunately caught James and Regulus in a ... suggestive position and proceeded chased James for 2 hours with a machete.
He was immediately proven correct when Sirius practically shoved James away and began to fuss over Regulus who looked like he was regretting coming here.
For a few moments , James looked away, feeling like they deserved a bit of privacy.
"You're staying here right." Sirius asked , making him tune back into the conversation.
"No." It was too quiet, too fast.James’s chest tightened at the sound of his voice. He’d known Regulus to be many things—haughty, guarded, sharp-tongued—but never this fragile. That single syllable sounded less like a refusal and more like a fracture
"Why not?" Sirius demanded. The disbelief in his voice couldn’t quite hide the sharp edge of panic. "Don't tell me you wanna go back there."
"No! You don't understand," He choked out, wrapping his arms tightly around himself as if trying to hold their pieces together. "I mean... it's not safe for me to stay here."
James saw the exact moment the younger boy started to unravel. Regulus looked so small, smaller than he ever had on the Quidditch pitch or in the corridors of Hogwarts. It made James's stomach twist with a sudden, fierce ache to protect him—not just from the threat outside, but from the memory of whatever had broken him so completely.
"So? We can fight them off even if it takes months," Sirius argued, though his voice lacked its usual fire, sounding more like a plea than a defiance.
"I don't want to live like that anymore," Regulus whispered. It wasn't the usual defence; it was just the sound of someone entirely hollowed out.
James understood. He knew Sirius did too. He had always dreamed of the day Reggie finally escaped. He used to imagine laughter, crowded rooms, messy make-out sessions, and endless road trips under a clear sky. He had built a whole future out of youth and freedom—not this quiet reality where everything felt just out of reach."