Chapter Text
chapter one
Regulus Black is standing in front of James Potter’s door step.
He was surprised that he was able to get through the protection spell put around his house, this just means that James kept his promise which makes Regulus’s heart ache more with each step he took.
He has been standing in front of that door for ten minutes unable to gather the courage to knock.
Which is stupid considering the fact that he was the only one to have the guts to betray the Dark Lord at seventeen, to find out about the horcruxes at eighteen and to destroy them all and kill fucking Voldemort at tweety-two and yet he can’t be brave enough to knock on James Potter’s fucking door.
But James Potter always made him feel that way right?
Regulus at this point is just damn tired, he is covered in bruises and injuries that he never really had the will nor the time to heal, he hadn’t slept in fucking months and he is currently trying to hide the fact that he is alive and the one who murdered the dark lord from enraged death eaters that surely would want his head.
He has nowhere to go, he can’t go the his brother, he can’t go to Pandora and he would rather go back to the cave and drown for real than return to Grimmauld Place, so he went to the only person he truly trusted and made him feel like home;
James Potter.
He is still debating whether to knock or just go away when the door suddenly wings open and an arm grabs his wrist, pulls him in and immediately closes the door, he is then met by a warmthness that he recognizes too well, that he would never dare to forget.
James Potter is hugging him tightly.
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James was taken aback when he felt Regulus’s magic in front of his house, he knew that he made a promise and that he kept it, but he never thought that the younger boy would actually come to him after all these years.
It took all of ten minutes for him to realize that perhaps Regulus actually came to him because he was in real danger or that he needed help, so James speedwalked to the door, pulled Regulus inside and hugged him as hard as he could.
“Damn it Regulus, I knew that you didn’t die, I knew that it was all bullshit, I knew that you were still alive…”
He felt the younger boy tense then relax against him, Regulus wrapped his arms around James’s neck, breathing heavily and obviously fighting back tears.
“J-James…”
“it’s fine Regulus, i-it’s over, you’re safe here.”
As if these were the words that Regulus needed to hear, James watched as the boy in his arms slowly leaned into him and passed out because of his exhausted and injured body.
_____
Regulus woke up to find himself laid on a very comfortable bed and all his injuries were taken care of and bandaged. He rolled to his side and found some folded clothes that James definitely left for him to wear, the thought made Regulus warm inside, James was always careful with Regulus’s personal space, even back in Hogwarts, he was always so careful and gentle with him that the fact that this didn’t change even after all these years made him smile, something he hadn’t done in a long time…
When Regulus felt strong enough to leave the room and get downstairs, he froze the moment he entered the kitchen and came face to face with James. They both stayed quiet for sometime, it wasn’t as awkward as Regulus thought it would be but the silence still made him uncomfortable, and as if James could read his mind, he broke the silence.
“I cooked dinner, eat as much as you like, it seems like you haven’t had a proper meal in a while.”
“Yeah, eh-hm thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Regulus sat and ate alone in the kitchen, he knows that James is giving him as much space as he can, which Regulus is very grateful for because he still needs to organize his thoughts, he knows that James has a lot of questions and he knows that James deserves to know but Regulus has to get it together to tell all that to the older boy. He needs some time, that’s all.
_______
James was burning inside, he wanted to ask Regulus what happened, he wanted to know what he went through to become like this.
The scars on Regulus’s body were deep and sharp, he was way too skinny and he obviously hadn’t slept in a while. He didn’t care if he faked his death, if he killed people, he needed to know what happened to him because he knows Regulus, he knows he never would never harm anyone without a good reason.
But James also knew how much of a mess Regulus is, he knows that the younger boy needs time for himself, he knows that he will eventually come to him and get everything out of his chest, and he knows all that because it was the same at Hogwarts.
Regulus was still his Reg.