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gold rush

Summary:

The last thing thirty-one year old widower and single father James Potter expects to arrive on his doorstep is a broken and bloody Regulus Black, on the run from his god awful husband. What happens when Regulus has no where to go, and James is more than happy for him to stay?

Notes:

welcome to gold rush! a non-magical jegulus au. lots of tw for this fic around grief, domestic abuse and lots of comfort! will tw specific chapters as we go.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Look Haz, Uncle Pads has sent me some of the photos from the wedding!” James grinned at his laptop, scrolling through the photos of his best friend, Sirius Black (well, Sirius Lupin’s now), wedding day. He’d only sent a handful through, as he and Remus were now on their honeymoon for three weeks. They were lovely photos, Sirius and Remus looked so happy and in love. He quickly saved one of him, the grooms and their other best mate Peter, as well as one of him and Harry. 

“Lemme see,” The five-year-old climbed unceremoniously onto the sofa, curling under his father’s arm, “That’s us!” He said merrily, pointing at the almost identical bespectacled faces looking out at him, one older, skin a darker brown with brown eyes, the other slightly lighter skinned, significantly smaller with green.

“It is!” He kissed the top of his head, “You look very handsome.” 

“When are they back?”

“Two and a half weeks.” 

“S’a long time.” He pouted, and James couldn’t help but feel the same. Since Harry had been born, they’d never gone more than a week without seeing Sirius and Remus. Sirius particularly liked to joke that he was like Harry’s other parent sometimes - he wasn’t always wrong, James thought. The pair had been there for almost every important moment in Harry’s life, his first steps, his first words, his first day of school. He trusted Harry with Sirius and Remus more than he trusted himself sometimes.

“I know bub, they’ll be back soon though.” 

“Yeah, and they said they’d bring me a present.” He gave a toothy grin. 

“Well aren’t you lucky.”

“Mhmmm,” He frowned, “I’m hungry.” 

“Fruit? We’ve got dinner in a bit.” 

“Yes please.” He smiled, following James through to the kitchen as he sliced up some apple for the boy. He put it into a small plastic bowl and passed it to him, “Here you go.” 

“Thank you.” He grinned, going back into the lounge. 

There was a knock at the door and James furrowed his eyes, he hadn’t been expecting anyone that evening, and with Sirius and Remus on their honeymoon, it was seriously limited who would be visiting them out of the blue. 

He swung the door open, and his mouth fell wide with shock. 

Stood before him, was someone who he never thought he’d see again, someone he hadn’t even thought about in years.

Regulus Black. Sirius’ younger brother. The brother who hadn’t come with Sirius when he’d run at age sixteen. The brother who Sirius hated and yet seemed to love so much all in the same breath.

And fuck did he look terrible.

His right eye was blackened and slightly swollen, a graze on his face below it, his cheeks were hollow, his entire frame was gaunt . His hair was a mess, he was cradling his hand to his chest, breathing shakily. He was shivering slightly, despite the multiple layers he had on. He looked like he’d just been in a fight, and lost. Badly. 

“Regulus?” 

“James,” He breathed, his voice lower than James remembered, “I-I–Sirius wasn’t in.” 

“You went to see Sirius?” 

“I tried. Yeah. I err-,” He swallowed hard, eyes welling with tears, “I didn’t know where else to go.” 

“Are you…I err-, your parents?”

“They’re dead. I got kicked out twelve years ago,” He said quickly, and James noticed his eyes, wide and terrified, darting to the street behind them, “I just need a phone to call a hotel and sort some money out. That’s all.” He looked completely desperate, it was a little heartbreaking actually. 

The Regulus he remembered was unnervingly put together, smooth, always stood tall and quite frankly was far too pretty for his best friend's younger brother. 

This Regulus was a mess, anxiously hunched over his injured arm, eyes wide and pleading and an entirely different man to the boy James once knew.

Still pretty though.

“Come in,” James nodded, moving out the way, “Just be warned–” 

Dad! I’ve finished,” Harry ran through holding his bowl up, “Oh, who’s that? What happened to your face?” He pushed his glasses up, eyeing Regulus curiously.

“Err–” Regulus stared at Harry, eyes somehow going even wider.

“Harry love,” James said firmly, but gently, “This here is an old friend of mine. We’re going to have a quiet catch up quickly so why don’t you go and do some colouring?”

“Okay!” He grinned and ran off upstairs. 

“That’s Harry,” James said, “My son.”

“How old is he?” Regulus asked, his voice still shaky.

“Five,” He led the man through to the kitchen, “Drink?” He asked, starting to make some chai.

“Err-It’s okay, thank you.” He said, and god his voice was so much weaker than it used to be. When Regulus spoke, it was also brutal, cold and unfeeling, but powerful. If James didn’t know his face so well, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to recognise him at all. 

“You’re half frozen Regulus,” He sighed, grabbing a blanket from the lounge, and handing it to him carefully, “Have some chai, if you want. It’s good for warming up.” 

“Chai?” He asked, while he awkwardly wrapped himself in the blanket with one hand.

“Oh, it’s lush, mum’s recipe. Black tea, cinnamon, clove, ginger and some other bits,” He saw Regulus’ eyes brighten a little with interest, “I’ll make some and you can try it.” 

“Oh, no, don't trouble yourself.” 

“It’s fine, easy to do,” He smiled, going to the freezer and getting out some frozen peas, putting them in a tea towel and placing them in front of Regulus, clocking the way he appeared to instinctively flinch away from him, “Put this where it hurts the most.”

He snorted, a feeble thing, but a laugh nonetheless, “You got enough frozen veg for everywhere?” 

“Do you need to go to the hospital or something?” He eyed the way that Regulus was breathing carefully, he was moving so stiffly, his breath slightly rattly and he hadn’t moved his wrist from his chest. Not to mention the bruising, which James noticed more and more of as he looked at the man. All around his throat were thick, black bruises, horrifyingly in the shape of finger marks. He could see bruising poking up from the sleeves of his jacket too. Christ knows what state the rest of him is in , James thought.

Regulus’ face contorted with fear then, “No,” He said quickly, “No hospitals. He’s my emergency contact and I can’t-He can’t-” His breathing grew shallower, shakier. 

“Okay, okay,” James said, keeping his voice low and calm, “Mum’s a medic. How about I call her and Dad, and she can come over and check you out, make sure that there’s nothing drastically wrong, then you still get some help without having to check in anywhere.” 

The shorter man seemed to think on this for a moment, fidgeting slightly, taking in a sharp, pained breath when he did, before his face fell slightly, “Okay. But please, please don’t tell anyone else I’m here.”  

“I won’t, I won’t I promise, but Regulus, if there’s someone after you, people after you, my son is here, I can’t, if he’s going to be in danger.” He felt awful even considering the prospect of kicking Regulus out in this state, but he had to put Harry first.

“No, no, god, no, ” He rushed to say, the words practically falling out of his mouth, “It’s not. It’s nothing like that. He won’t find me here. Won’t be able to, I err-I’ve made sure he can’t.” 

“He?” 

“I–,” Regulus looked downcast, shuffling his wrist to place it on the bag, hissing as he did so, “I don’t–I can’t–” He sniffled slightly, somehow hunching in on himself even more and James spotted him brush the thin gold band on his left ring finger nervously.

Oh fuck, he thought, oh this is really bad. Something dreadful settled in his stomach.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me,” James said softly, “As long as Harry’s safe, you can stay here for a while if you need to. Sirius is away for the next two and a half weeks, so you can stay until he’s back. Then speak to him and see what to do next.” 

“It’s okay, I can go tomorrow, I just need to use your phone to call the bank tomorrow morning to get some money moved around,” He tentatively moved to try the drink that James’ had placed in front of him, blowing on it daintily before swigging it, “This is good thank you.”

James didn’t really like the idea of letting Regulus go off on his own now, but decided that would be a discussion for later, “No problem, I’m going to order some dinner, do you like pizza?” 

For the first time that evening, James saw a glimmer of the old Regulus when the man gave him a look that could only be described as scathing , “Who doesn’t like pizza?” 

He laughed, “Fair point. Any preference?” 

He shook his head slightly, “No it’s okay.” 

“Haz!” He called, and Regulus jumped at the noise and fuck if James didn’t feel terrible, at the way he seemed to recoil nervously as Harry trampled down the stairs, “What pizza do you want love?” 

“We’re having pizza?!” He asked excitedly, “Cheese and ham please.”

“You got it pickle." And he started tapping on his phone to order.

“What’s your name?” The boy asked Regulus, who once again was looking at him a little like he was an alien.

“Regulus.” He said, voice soft. 

“Reg-goo-lus?” 

“Yeah, that’s right, but you can call me Reg if it’s easier for you.” He offered.

“Reg,” He grinned, “S’a good name.” 

“Thank you, I think Harry is a good name too.” He even quirked a small smile. It was a small, precious, delicate thing, but it was there. 

Harry beamed, “I hope your face gets better soon Mr. Reg, you should get Daddy to kiss it better. It always makes me feel better when he does that.” 

James laughed at the mildly mortified look Regulus gave him, “It’s okay bub, Dadi’s going to come over and look after him and we can hang out with Dadu.” 

“Yay!” He ran off, shouting something about getting toys sorted to play with James’ father.

“Sorry about him, we’re working on boundaries.” He laughed softly.

“It’s okay. He’s very sweet,” Regulus carried on quietly swigging his tea, looking pensive beneath the bruises, “So err-How’s Sirius? You said he was away?”

“Yeah, him and Remus. They got married last weekend,” He grinned, “I can show you pictures of the wedding if you want?” 

He nodded, wincing slightly, “I’d like that.” 

James went and grabbed his laptop, getting the pictures up and placing it in front of Regulus, “Scroll away, he’s only sent through a handful but,” He unlocked his phone and put it in front of him, “There’s a bunch on there as well.” 

“Oh, I can just—“ He gestured to the devices in front of him.

“Yeah course, got nothing to hide.” He shrugged, and Regulus gave him an inscrutable look before beginning to look through the pictures.

“He looks happy.” He said after a while, voice a little sad and wistful. 

“It was a really good day,” James coughed awkwardly, “We err-He sorted a moment for absent friends, you know, people we lost. Lily and that. He err-he did it for you too.” Sirius hadn’t said this to everyone at the wedding, but when they were getting ready, he’d mentioned it briefly. 

“I’m gonna do a toast to the people who couldn’t be here during the speech. You know, Lily, Moony’s dad,” He glanced down at the cuff links he was going to wear, “Reggie.” He said quietly. James knew in his wallet was a picture of the two of them, the only one Sirius had. 

James went and put an arm around him, “S’a great idea Pads. Lily would love it,” He pulled his best friend’s head down to rest on his shoulder, “It’s okay to miss him.” 

Sirius nodded, “Yeah. I miss her too.”

“Me too.”

Harry had promptly spilled his glass of orange juice then, distracting the pair of them as they broke into fits of laughter “ Please kid, give me one day without mess.” 

“What happened to Lily?”

“Oh, she passed, in a car accident, about six months after Harry was born.” 

Regulus looked stunned, “I’m so sorry.” 

James gave him a small smile, “Thank you, it’s okay though, really.” 

And it was. He missed her, a part of his heart was going to belong to Lily Evans forever. And when she’d first died it was awful. It was devastating, a car accident in bad weather that was just that, an accident. It was no one’s fault, but James had been desperate to blame someone, anyone for the death of his fiancée, the death of his son's mother. Harry was so little, it still hurt James that he’d never know how brilliant his mother was. He'd been a mess when she’d first gone. He barely remembered anything before the funeral, just that he was existing in grief and desperation to try and do right by Harry. He’d lived with his parents for a while, when he was really bad, barely eating, forgetting to shower, only really smiling or pretending to be a real person for Harry. His friends had been such incredible support at the time as well, taking shifts of looking after Harry while James went to therapy and grief support groups. Sirius and Remus stayed with him often too, making a concerted effort to get him to leave the house, take Harry out to the places Lily wanted to take him, and make new traditions for the two of them, like the annual trip to the zoo he took with Harry around his birthday. 

Slowly but surely he got better, eventually using the life insurance payout to get him and Harry the little three bedroom terraced house they lived in now. He started dating again, it was difficult at first, but with lots of therapy, he’d learned that he would never replace Lily, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find happiness in someone else.

Not that he’d had an enormous amount of luck on that front, the men and women he’d dated thus far had been lovely, but often struggled with the fact he had a son, or they panicked that he would be constantly comparing them to Lily. It was ridiculous, no one could compare to her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find a new connection, a new love with someone that was just as strong, just as important to him. It infuriated him to no end that people didn’t seem to understand that.

“That’s still horrible,” He said softly, “What do you do now?” 

James couldn’t help but feel warmed by his obvious concern, “I work as a PE teacher, Head of Department. It’s good. Means I don’t have to worry about Haz in the holidays too.” 

“I can see you doing that, you always did all the sport in school,” He smiled again, “Your team were shit at football though.”

James gasped in mock-offense, as he started the food order, “How dare you! Under my captaincy we won at least half our games.”

“Not the cup though,” He smirked, “That went to us.”

“Yeah well, your striker was excellent from what I remember,” He teased, “Do you still play at all?” 

Regulus shook his head, “No I err-,” He coughed awkwardly, “I gave it up a few years back.”

“Oh well, maybe when you’re healed you can come along to the five-a-side I go to? It’s mostly dads from the school but it would be nice to have a decent player on the team.” 

“I’ll have a think about it.” He mumbled, eyes glazing over a little as if he was deep in thought. 

James gave him a small smile, “That’d be great.” 

They continued their small talk until James’ parents arrived. Mostly James talking about Harry, which he was more than content to do. Regulus avoided talking about himself, or his life, or what had got him to James’ table right now, but he appeared to be content to simply chat quietly to him, even asking Harry a few questions about school and his favourite things. 

By the time Effie appeared, James had already decided that, no matter what happened next, he wasn’t going to let Regulus go back to wherever he had been. 

***

Regulus had never been so terrified in this life.

And that was really something given the life Regulus had lived so far. Barely thirty, and he’d never spent more than a short amount of time away from someone in his life aggressively trying to manipulate him, or abusing him, or taking advantage of him.

He thought his parents had been bad enough.

Then he met Jack Mulciber.

And he was lovely, at first. Four years older than him, and a wealthy graduate, Regulus had fallen hard and fast at nineteen. He’d been disowned at eighteen, kicked out of the house, and ended up scraping together enough funds while sleeping on the sofas of his friends to go to university. He had fuck all money, was staying in horrible house shares, but he was free of his parents, free to live his life as a gay man and Regulus thought everything was better.

At age nineteen, he met Jack. Lovely, attractive Jack, who made Regulus feel special in ways he never had before. Was seemingly so understanding about Regulus’ nightmares, or the fact that he couldn’t always cope with getting out of bed, or everything about his entire history. So Regulus moved in with him by age twenty one, graduated with Jack by his side, and he thought he was going to be happy.

By age twenty four Regulus was married to the man. A small, quick ceremony, where Regulus had to fight for his three closest friends, Barty, Evan and Pandora to be there as witnesses. Jack hadn’t wanted anyone other than his close friends there, but he’d allowed Regulus to invite them as a wedding gift. He hadn’t spoken to any of them in about two years. He wasn’t allowed to. His entire life revolved around Jack and what he wanted. 

At age twenty six, his parents had died, and it turned out they hadn’t ever removed him from their will. Some deluded idea that he might go crawling back to them he supposed, so Regulus was wealthy enough to look after himself for approximately three hours before he stupidly signed it over to their joint account. The account for which his access was promptly removed. 

He felt so fucking stupid these days it made it difficult to breathe. 

He didn’t really know when it started, the controlling behaviour, the jealousy, the shouting, the snide comments that slowly made Regulus wonder what Jack saw in him in the first place. Wasn’t sure when fear and terror of the consequences of any misstep became so normal. How desperately he would fight for attention from a man, that even the back of his hand felt like a blessing most days. 

This particular argument had started when Regulus had asked Jack where the hickeys on his neck had come from, because they certainly weren’t from Regulus as he wasn’t allowed to do that to him. He had flown off the handle and beaten Regulus within an inch of his life, screaming about the audacity Regulus had, and a whole slew of insults and abuse,  leaving him lying on the floor, desperately trying to get air into his lungs. He’d had worse before, but he’d never been left alone for so long. Jack usually found a way to help him, make him feel better, apologise. Sometimes it took a few minutes, but it would happen. He’d usually cry, beg for forgiveness and Regulus would give it to him because where else would he be able to find love? 

But this time he hadn’t come back. 

For twenty five minutes, Regulus just lay there, shaking, broken, and in more pain than he’d ever been in.

It was then he realised he had to leave. If he stayed he was going to die, and he didn’t want to die. 

He wanted to find his brother and say sorry. 

So at age thirty he grabbed all the cash he could find and ran.

He’d found Sirius and James’ addresses before. James had done some coaching of some kind, and Sirius’ address was posted as part of his work as a graphic designer. He’d memorised them, both of them, not wanting to risk having them written down anywhere. 

He’d gone to Sirius’ first, his heart in his throat when he knocked. But no one had answered, and all the lights were off, so he figured they weren’t in. 

He felt less nervous going to James’, perhaps it was because the history was less fraught. Or that James had always seemed like he would move heaven and earth to help people. And he wasn’t wrong, when he arrived and James invited him in, the entire place felt safe. James oozed a comfort and kindness that Regulus hadn’t felt since Sirius ran. The way he spoke with Harry, with such gentleness and respect for the boy, was something Regulus had never seen before. It was quite overwhelming.

He was sat, quietly chatting to James and sipping on his tea, when the bell went, startling him and he heard the steps of the five-year-old boy trampling down the stairs.

“They’re here!” He shouted excitedly and James rolled his eyes as he followed behind him, nothing but pure adoration in his face. 

He heard greetings at the door, and attempted to stand, hissing at the pain in his arm and chest at the movement.

He was swiftly met by James parents, both Indian like James, Effie, a short woman, who had the same kind, brown eyes that James did, followed by Monty, a taller man with hair almost as wild as his son’s and a pair of glasses too. They both had such kind smiles on, Regulus wasn’t really sure what to do with it. 

“Hello dear, please don’t worry about getting up,,” Effie’s voice had a similar soothing quality to James’, as she approached the table, putting down her first aid kit, “It’s lovely to finally meet you. Sirius has told me plenty about you.” 

“He has?” Regulus was surprised, he expected that Sirius would have never spoken about him again, or at least nothing good. 

“Hey Haz, why don’t you go and show Dadu the drawings you did today?” James suggested.

“Yeah! Come on.” Harry grabbed his grandfather's hand and dragged him off, Monty looking at him with adoration the whole time. 

“I can go too if you want?” James asked.

Regulus didn’t really want him to, he seemed to have such a good read on what he did and didn’t want to talk about, he wanted that support there, “It’s okay. You can stay.” 

“Sirius has always spoken of you fondly,” Effie interrupted softly, “Now, I’m afraid you’re probably going to have to remove your shirt, just so I can properly check out the bruising and make sure nothing's wrong with your ribs.”

“Oh I don’t think they’re broken.” He said, sure of himself, he’d had broken ribs before, this time it felt like simple bruising.

“Okay dear, I’d still like to check if that’s okay?” She paused, “If you really don’t want to, I won't force you.” 

“It’s okay,” He peeled his layers off slowly, trying desperately not to gasp with pain as his entire body burned at the movement. He heard a sharp intake of breath as his t-shirt came off.

I know, he thought, thinking of all the times Jack had hurled insults at him, I’m too scrawny and ugly and disgusting.  

“That looks like it fucking hurts Regulus.” James murmured. 

It does, he thought, “It’s okay.” 

“James sweetheart, do you have any painkillers? They’ll help with the stiffness and swelling around your ribs.” Effie informed him. 

“Yeah,” He went and dug around in a cupboard, pulling out a box of paracetamol and ibuprofen, “I’ll go out and get you some more tomorrow.” He told him quietly, filling up a glass with water and putting it next to him. 

He took the pills quietly, feeling Effie’s eyes on him the entire time. 

“Okay dear,” Effie’s voice was quiet and gentle, “I’m going to need to touch you in a few places to get an understanding of the injuries, they’re a little cold right now,” She offered one out to him, “Would you like to feel the temperature of them first so you know what to expect?” 

Regulus reached out, and took a slightly chilled hand into his, she didn’t squeeze, or make any moves, just let him feel her hand.

He wasn’t entirely sure why the entire thing put him at ease.

“I’ll talk you through what I’m doing the entire time if it’s helpful?”

He nodded, and true to her word, she talked quietly as she checked over him. Pressing gently on various bruises, ascertaining the extent of the injuries. She cleaned the cuts on his face, hands and arms properly. She bandaged up his wrist, hesitantly suggesting that he should try and get it x-rayed. but it was likely just a sprain. She was so delicate when she handled him. Regulus held his breath at first, instinctively anticipating roughness, but as she worked, he found himself able to relax slightly.

“I can get you some fresh clothes if you want? Sirius always leaves some here and you’re not that much smaller than him.” 

“Thank you,” he said quietly, before turning to Effie, “Thank you so much.” 

“Of course treasure, it’s really no issue.” She smiled and it was so kind, so filled with genuine care, it made Regulus want to cry. 

“Come with me,” James offered, “I’ll show you where you’re sleeping too.” 

He couldn’t help but notice how many pictures there were up around the house, it was completely different to his parents house, or to the house he’d shared with Jack. They were sterile, minimalist environments, bare and unloved. Jack hated being in photos with Regulus, he’d even refused a photograph at their wedding. The only real memorial of the day Regulus had was the band on his finger. 

But James’ house was stuffed to the brim with colour and pictures and love. The fridge was covered in Harry’s drawings held on by magnets from places they’d clearly been together. The hallway had a mess of shoes and coats, the walls of the stairs were filled with pictures, happy smiling faces of their family and friends looking out at them. It was bright, lots of different colours used, but it was still tasteful, not obnoxious. It was simply just warm and safe. 

He gave a quick brief on which room was which, Harry’s was across the landing, James’ next to it, then the bathroom and then—

“This is yours,” James gestures around the room. It was simply decorated, three white walls and a feature wall of sage green and white stripes, an oak wardrobe and chest of drawers, and a bed made up in sage green bed linen, a few darker green cushions and two blankets, one with paw prints, the other with moons, The drawers are full of Padfoots and Moony’s stuff. I’d recommend stealing one of Moony’s jumpers, the brown one’s the comfiest.” 

“You still use those nicknames?” He asked, clinging to something he vaguely knew, rather than allowing himself to become overwhelmed by how kind James was being.

“Of course,” He beamed, “Sirius likes to call Harry, ‘Prongslet’.” 

Oh that’s cute, “Of course he does.” He laughed slightly. God, he missed his brother. He’d spent a long time being angry at Sirius, Jack often encouraged the anger at his brother, at everyone who had abandoned him. But he didn’t have it in him anymore. He understood why Sirius didn’t ask him, he wasn’t worth it, he wouldn’t have gone with him anyway.  The pictures James had shown him of Sirius’ wedding were devastating, he looked happy, so so happy. Regulus desperately didn’t want to ruin that. 

There were a couple of pictures up in here too, one of Harry in a tiny football kit, and one of Sirius, Remus and a younger Harry, all grinning up at the camera. It wrenched at Regulus’ heart. 

James had grabbed a set of towels out of the small cupboard by the stairs and placed them down on the bed, “Feel free to shower if you want. Dinner’s going to be another fifteen minutes so there’s plenty of time. I’ll err-I’ll leave you to get changed.” James gave a small nod, before leaving, closing the door behind him. 

He opted out of the shower, but did have a brief wash in the bathroom. Effie had gone to so much trouble to bandage him up, he didn’t want to ruin it. After, he slowly rifled through the clothes, pulling out a pair of jogging bottoms, a plain red t-shirt and the jumper James had suggested. He also found a pair of beige fluffy socks which he slid onto his feet. It took him a while to get changed, usually Jack would help when he was this hurt. But he found it was worth it. The clothes were comfortable and had a sweet, homey smell that James’ entire house smelt of. He had to tuck the bottom of the joggers into the socks and pull the drawstrings tight as they were a little big on him, and the jumper hung halfway down his thighs and well over his hands. He glanced at himself in the mirror before leaving the room.

Disgusting. He thought mildly as he often did when he saw his own reflection. He looked pathetic, drowning in his estranged brother and brother-in-laws clothes, looking like something out of a horror movie. He sighed heavily

By the time he’d made it downstairs, he noticed that James and Harry were also in pyjamas. Harry’s were red, gold and covered in tiny stars, whereas James’ were a plaid pair of bottoms and a beige hoodie that made him look exceptionally soft.

“Dad says we’re having a pizza party,” Harry told Regulus excitedly, “S’why we have to put on our jammies so it’s comfy.” 

“That sounds great.” He said quietly, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa in the lounge. 

“Regulus,” Monty asked almost immediately,  “Do you like to garden?”

“Oh god Dad please, you’ll bore the man half to death.” James laughed, and Effie playfully shoved her son.

“Don’t be horrible to your father, someone has to take care of out there and it’s not you.”

“Hey! We try, don't we, Harry. When we do our gardening.”

“Yeah!” Harry grinned, “Gardening’s when we make mud castles.” 

“Yes well, I wasn’t asking about the terrible things you’re teaching my grandson, I was asking Regulus.” Monty turned back to him. 

“I do enjoy it, actually,” Gardening had been the only thing of his own he’d been allowed to keep doing, “I’ve always struggled with orchids if you have any tips?” They were one of his favourite flowers, but he always seemed to kill them. 

“Oh everyone struggles with orchids dear boy, they’re beautiful, but  finicky buggers. Try keeping it in the bathroom for a while, they like the humidity.”

“I’ll try that, thank you.” He nodded. Granted, he wasn’t sure when he’d have the space to grow plants again, but he was grateful for the tip.

“Not at all,” He beamed, “It’s nice to have a fellow botanist around. Jamie here killed a cactus once.”

James’ face flushed, “You told me it didn’t need water.”

Monty snorted, “I said it didn’t need water often.” 

“Yeah whatever.” He waved him off and they both chuckled. 

It wasn’t long after that, their dinner arrived. Effie fussed over Harry as he ate, 

Shortly after, Effie and Monty left, both giving Regulus warm smiles and a promise from him to visit and see the garden soon. He was going to keep that promise, he thought, even if it killed him. James had taken Harry upstairs for bedtime, and the boy had merrily wished Regulus a goodnight before leaving. He heard a mild commotion upstairs, and listened curiously.

“No! I want to do it now!” He heard Harry say insistently, “Dadu made it with me, please Dada. You said he might go!”

He heard James sigh, “Okay, you can, but you have to be quick. Regulus has had a busy day. Straight to bed afterwards.”

“Thank you Daddy!” He squealed, and he heard small steps thudding down the stairs. In an instant the boy was in front of him, “Dad said you might go so I made you this.” He held out a slightly crumpled piece of paper. On it, was a scribbly drawing of what Regulus thought might be a dog, and a big ‘GET WELL SOON!’ in scribbly, child's handwriting.

Reg,

I hope you feel better soon.

From,

Harry xxx

Regulus felt a lump in his throat, “This is very kind Harry thank you.” 

“It’s okay. Night, night.” He grinned, running back up the stairs.

He looked towards James who was looking after Harry fondly, “I’ll just put him to bed and come back down. Help yourself to anything you want, tea, more food.”

Regulus just nodded, still looking at the card in his hands. He felt tears well in his eyes, overwhelmed by the fact he'd been thought about, that Harry had wanted to do something for him. He sniffled a little, looking over the message again. 

True to his word, James wasn’t long, sighing as he flopped on the sofa, flipping the channel to some ridiculous sitcom. 

James asked if Regulus needed anything, and after his refusal they sat in silence for a while. And it was comfortable. 

As a rule, Regulus hated silence around other people. It made him nervous. It usually meant he was in trouble, or about to be. Silence always followed a storm. But this was y like that. James let out breaths of laughter at the show, while scrolling his phone. At one point, he’d made another chai and left it on the table for Regulus, as well as placing a blanket by him. He’d wrapped the blanket around himself and snuggled down, feeling so fucking cosy.

Eventually he nodded off, and was woken up by a gentle voice. 

“Reg, hey, do you want to go upstairs?” James’s face was close to his, the man had crouched to speak to him. Regulus blinked awake sleepily, unable to stop himself noticing the flecks of honey in the man’s deep brown eyes.

“Um, yeah, sorry.” He sat up quickly, taking in a harsh, sharp breath as his chest throbbed painfully.

“No need to apologise,” He smiled gently, “You’ve had a shitter of a day.” 

Regulus laughed, ”Understatement of the year.” 

He chuckled, “Come on, I need to sleep anyway.” He flicked the TV off and started tidying up their mugs, putting them in the dishwasher and chucking some of Harry’s toys back into the toy box. 

They made their way upstairs, James seemed to be pensieve about something, turning to Regulus as he went into his room.

“I really mean it Reg,” He said gently, “You’re welcome here as long as you need., “This room is yours if you need it. I’ve got school tomorrow so Harry and I will be up at about half six to get ready. But please, just,” He looked a little pained as he said it, “Consider it. I don’t want, you don’t have to—,” He breathed in, starting the sentence again, “You don’t have to be on your own.” 

Damn James Potter and his big fucking heart.

He always knew James was kind. At school, he was beloved by everyone, known for being loud and obnoxious and at the heart of all the school pranks with his fellow marauders. But he was kind too. Always willing to he lp out the younger students with their homework (it was no wonder he became a teacher really), putting in extra hours as football captain for both his house and the school, to make sure the team was not only excellent, but happy too. It was why he felt safe to come here, and this evening had only reaffirmed that idea.

“Thank you,”  Regulus replied, desperately considering the offer, staying somewhere where he already felt safer and warmer than he ever had in his thirty years of life. He glanced at the card, still clutched in his hand, “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” He nodded, “S’all I can ask.” 

“Goodnight James.”

“Goodnight Regulus."