Chapter Text
Regulus’ feet felt unsteady under him as he stepped off of the plane. He kept in line with the group of people around him. He let them lead him through the French airport. After he collected his bags, he made his way outside.
His parents had decided that a summer in France would be nice. Especially since Regulus was caught sneaking around with a boy during the summer last year. They think a little trip away will do good for him. He’ll be staying with the Potters. They sounded welcoming through the letters, but Regulus was still hesitant.
He brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he looks for the Potters. Regulus finally found Fleamont near the back waving at him. Regulus took a deep breath before he walked that way.
Fleamont had made easy conversation in the car in the drive to the house. Regulus felt slightly guilty for wanting to get away from him. When they pulled up to the Potter’s house, Regulus spotted Euphemia leaning against the open door. Regulus gave Fleamont a quick smile before he got out of the car. Regulus figured he could grab his bags in a moment, so he walked up and gave Euphemia a quick hug. She pressed a quick kiss to his check. “Welcome, Regulus,” she smiled.
When Regulus looked back towards the car, he was met with Fleamont already carrying his bags. “Oh, I was just about to grab those! Here let me help,” Regulus shouted. He rushed forward, but Fleamont shook his head.
“No, no, Regulus, go on in. I can handle a few bags,” Fleamont smiled. Regulus hesitant before turning back to Euphemia. She smiled and held her hand out. Regulus placed his hand in hers, and he allowed himself to be dragged inside the house. Euphemia showed Regulus all the main rooms then she began leading Regulus upstairs. “James, our son, will be right next door, so if you need anything at all, you can always ask him,” she explained. Regulus watched silently as she lightly knocked before cracking open one of the bedroom doors. Regulus heard her say something, but before Regulus could process what it was, the door swung open.
Regulus felt his heart skip a few beats. The man in front of him was beautiful, almost godlike. Regulus’ mine went blank.
“Hi, I’m James!” James held out his hand. Regulus stared at it before figuring out that James wanted to shake his hand.
“It’s Regulus, as you probably know,” Regulus introduced. Regulus saw the way James’ eyes ran over him, and Regulus had to fight back a shiver.
“Yeah, I do,” James smiled. Regulus turned towards Euphemia, breaking his gaze away from James.
“James, if you could show Regulus to his room and out back, I would like to start dinner,” Euphemia asked. James quickly nodded, and Regulus watched as Euphemia began towards the kitchen.
“So, you don’t have much of an accent,” Regulus commented as James lead them to the door next to James’.
“Yeah, this is actually more of a holiday house. We spend most of our time in England,” James explained. He began pushing Regulus’ door opened before looking back at Regulus. “You actually have more of an accent than me don’t you?” Regulus fought back a laugh.
“Yeah, well, I was actually born here in France. My family normally spends as much time here as possible. School’s the only reason we aren’t here permanently.” Regulus watched confusion sprout on James’ face.
“So, why are you here, and not with your family?” James asked. It was an innocent question really, but it had risky answers. Regulus didn’t know how to respond.
“My parents wanted to stay in England; I didn’t,” Regulus shrugged. James seemed to take that response. He began pushing Regulus’ door open again. Regulus’ room was tan and green, earthy tones. He had a bookshelf on one wall, a desk on the other. There were two windows that had a beautiful view of the backyard.
Regulus felt his heart clench slightly. It fit him. In the weirdest way, this room felt like it had been made for him specifically. Which technically it had, but they didn’t know enough to be able to actually make it for him. “Like it?” James’ voice came from next to Regulus.
Regulus looked over. He knew his eyes were slightly wider than normal. He tried to wipe the emotion away as he nodded. “It’s amazing.”
James and Regulus were chatting in the backyard when Euphemia and Fleamont began bringing out dishes of dinner. Regulus looked to James, who was still staring towards the clouds, before he jumped up the go help.
Regulus followed Fleamont back into the kitchen. “Can I help take anything out?” Regulus asked. He felt slightly bad when Fleamont jumped, but it quickly faded when Fleamont gave him a soft smile.
“If you’d like.” Fleamont led Regulus into the kitchen. Euphemia gave him a smile as Regulus grabbed a bowl filled with a delicious looking salad and a large plastic spoon. Fleamont and Euphemia followed Regulus as he walked back outside. James was sat up and looking this way when Regulus stepped out the back door. He gave James a smile as he set down the salad. Euphemia called James over as she set down the plate she was carrying. “I can’t believe you made Regulus help all by himself,” Euphemia scolded. Regulus’ heart dropped slightly, but it shot back up when Euphemia melted into a smile.
“I didn’t even know he got up until he was inside!” James threw his hands up. Euphemia and Fleamont laughed at that. Regulus forced a little laugh out of himself. The dinner was delicious and Regulus went to bed that night completely content.
Regulus woke up to a soft hand on his shoulder. Regulus shoved his face farther into his pillow before realizing there was actually a hand on his shoulder, and he shot up. “Woah, sorry Regulus, didn’t mean to frighten you. Breakfast is ready, Effie told me to come get you,” James said with a smile. Regulus’ brain was still fogged with sleep, so the first few seconds after James stopped talking was spent staring at James. He has nice lips.
“Oh, uh, sorry? Oh, yeah, I’ll be right down,” Regulus stumbled through his words. He let himself shove his face deep into his pillow. He heard James chuckle softly before his footsteps retreated.
Regulus flung himself out of bed. His brain was so tired he simply laid on the floor for a solid minute and a half. He had to force himself to throw on a baggy T-shirt, that used to be his brother’s, and a pair on blank sweatpants.
Regulus rubbed his eyes as he walked down the stairs. He saw that Fleamont looked almost as tired as Regulus felt, so Regulus knew he wouldn’t be out of place. Regulus slipped into a free seat at the table, and he watched as Euphemia placed down a plate full of pancakes. Regulus’ slow brain watched as she looked at him and motioned for him to eat. Regulus waited for Fleamont to start eating for a few moment, out of habit, before realized they were all waiting on him. “Oh, sorry,” Regulus mumbled. He took the top two pancakes. He lazily ate them as the Potters charted among themselves. Regulus was seriously jet lagged.
“How does that sound, Regulus?” They all turned towards Regulus. He sat alert suddenly. He looked at everyone, and figured he was supposed to say something. He had no idea what he was being asked about though. Regulus cringed before he spoke.
“Sorry, but what were you talking about?” Regulus asked. He was surprised when they merely laughed. He was sort of scared he’d be yelled at.
“Would you want to go down to the shops with James and pick up some things you’d like to eat?” That slightly confused Regulus because he’d eat whatever was given to him. He wasn’t picky, or well, he couldn’t be picky.
“Uh, sure?” Regulus said. When Euphemia’s focus turned away from Regulus, he leaned against the table. He was so tired.
James slid next to Regulus as he began walking towards his bedroom. “Hey, so I actually have a few friends in the area. I was wondering if you would want to come with me to go see them before we stop by the shop?” James offered. Regulus quickly nodded. He’d go anywhere with James. “Okay, go get dressed and meet me downstairs.” James smiled as he slid into his own room. Regulus stared at the door James disappeared behind before slipped into his own bedroom.
As Regulus got ready, he thought briefly about his brother. He thought about how Sirius was living in France now, and he laughed to himself about the possibility of seeing his brother. Regulus slipped out into the hall, and he headed towards the bathroom. The door opened as Regulus began reaching for the handle.
Regulus was met with a lopsided smile, and James laughed as he saw him. “See you downstairs, Reggie.” James gave him a playful wink then skipped downstairs. Regulus stopped himself from looking back at James because the wink had caused his entire face to turn red. He slipped into the bathroom quickly. He brushed his teeth, and he tried to ignore thinking about James.
Soon enough, Regulus was walking downstairs. Euphemia have him a quick hug, and she told him to have fun with James. Regulus had smiled at her. He followed James out, and he was about to question if they were going to drive or what when James lead them to a few bikes. “My friends left theirs here, so you can borrow one of their bikes.” James smiled at him as he passed Regulus a bike.
“They better not live too far away,” Regulus stated as he swung a leg over the bike. Regulus had only ridden a bike one other time. The time when he learned to ride it, so he didn’t actually like the idea of biking around. He didn’t say anything though.
James laughed and chatted as they rode around. James was gesturing around with his hands as he talked, but Regulus kept his firmly around the handle bars. He kept looking at James though; he couldn’t help it.
Regulus followed James as he took a turn towards a smaller house. It looked slightly older, but it had a homey feeling. Regulus was happy to get off the bike after James did. James let his bike fall over into the grass. Regulus set his up on the stand that it had at the bottom. He wasn’t going to throw around someone else’s bike. Regulus looked at the land around the house as James went up and knocked on the door. “Hey, Moony, is Pads here?” James said from behind Regulus. Regulus turned and he was met with another beautiful boy. His face was broken up by dramatic scars. Regulus thought he eyes were stunning. However, he couldn’t help his eyes wondering back to James.
“No, he’s actually at his place right now, but he should be coming back over tomorrow morning,” ‘Moony’ said. Regulus saw his eyes catch on him. He saw ‘Moony’s’ eyes wander over him. A strange emotion crossed his face. Regulus’ gaze was drawn back to James as he started talking.
“Oh, right, this is Regulus. He’ll be staying with us this summer. I wanted to introduce him to you guys. I think you guys will be seeing each other quite a bit,” James was beaming as he talked. Regulus came over and shook ‘Moony’s’ hand. He looked to James with a raised brow. “Oh, yeah sorry, this is Remus. We have nicknames for each other.” Regulus didn’t know James extremely well, but he knew for a fact that that made the most sense ever.
“Hi, Remus, you seem lovely,” Regulus smiled. He admired Remus’ eyes as Regulus looked up at him.
“Hello, Regulus, you look slightly familiar.”