Work Text:
i.
Regulus rubbed his temples in a futile attempt of easing his aggressive headache. He sat in the office of his family manor, buried in reports needed to be reviewed and revised. His boss at the ministry told him it needed to be done as soon as possible, which actually meant before the end of the week. He'd rolled up his white dress shirt after his office had gotten uncomfortably warm in the summer heat. But all it had done was reveal his dark mark on his forearm which only made his mood worse.
He sighed for the hundredth time that hour, sorting through the files that still needed to be done. A soft click made his head turn towards the door. Cool air from the rest of the house rushed into the room, along with his daughter. Her small arms held various goods as she made her way into his office, forgetting to close the door behind her.
Regulus stood from his chair, closing the door as she walked further into his office. "What's all this?" Regulus asked and hid a wince as she dropped her armful of things onto his desk with a thud.
Various coloured paper and crayons covered his work, he briefly closed his eyes and could only hope nothing spilled onto his reports. "I'm here to help, papa" She explained like it was obvious, placing her crayons beside his expensive quills his father had bought him, that he barely used.
"Oh? My little helper" He raised an eyebrow with a smile and she nodded very seriously.
Regulus settled back into his chair, lifting his small daughter onto his lap allowing her to reach her papers properly. He carefully sorted between his reports and the colorful papers and placed each stack beside each other. Despite his raging migraine still lingering and the writing speed decreased due to the humming coming from beside him. Regulus sat in his office, with his daughter, finishing off their work together.
And unlike his work that was swiftly sent off to his boss once finished, his daughter's work comprised of scribbles and badly drawn butterflies was hung on the wall above his desk.
ii.
"What's that one, papa?" His daughter asked, lifting her hand up towards the starry sky. Regulus tilted his head towards her to see where she was pointing.
"That one's Cassiopeia, see how it looks like the letter 'M'" He explained and she tilted her head and giggled. "Or a 'W'" She waved her hand around in the air in a 'W' motion. Regulus smiled.
"What about that one?" She asked again, pointing to another collection of stars. Regulus' smile threatened to fall but he pushed it away at the happy look on his daughter's face.
"That's Canis Major, but the brightest star, right there, is Sirius." He held her outstretched hand and pointed it towards the star that shone more brightly than the rest.
"It looks like a dog" She mumbled, yawning into her hand. "It does. It's known as the dog star." He glanced down at her and saw the tiredness growing on her.
"C'mon love, let's get you to bed" Regulus stood from the grassy backyard.
He lifted his daughter up and carried her into the warm manor with the promise of showing her the star tomorrow night.
iii.
"Bingy? Have you seen my grey shirt?" Regulus called out to their house elf who immediately appeared behind him. "Unfortunately Bingy has, Master Regulus." The house elf kept her head bowed.
Regulus waved in hands in confusion. He opened his mouth to question the elf but stopped abruptly when giggles rang through the hallway. Bingy met Regulus' eyes, making him nod with a smile. He stepped out in the hallway and saw his daughter swimming in his clothes that were far too big for her.
"I didn't realize I was raising a thief" He smirked with his arms crossed, making his daughter's head snap towards him. "Papa! I'm you!" She exclaimed with another fit of giggles.
She walked towards him, as best she could with the amount of fabric in her way. As she made her way towards him he saw a flash of ink beneath his jacket's sleeve that had ridden up to her wrist. A frown threatened to tug at his lips as he knelt in front of the pool of fabric his daughter was hiding under. He gently pushed the sleeve up and saw the messy black ink she'd doodled on her arm.
"What's this?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He swallowed hard, knowing exactly what she'd intended it to be. His left arm phantomly burned. His daughter tilted her head innocently, completely unaware of the meaning. "I'm you!" She repeated, with a smile.
Regulus shook his head lightly. "You don't want this" His voice broke making his daughter's lip wobbly. He knew she didn't understand, but she knew he wasn't as excited as she'd thought he'd be.
He delicately wiped the black ink from her arm, staining his own hand. Which made his jaw clench at the ironic symbolism. "It's ugly, and mean. A bad mistake."
Tears welled in the corner of his daughter's similar grey eyes and his heart softened despite the panic that clung to it. He gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How about we make something better?" He asked, gaining her curiosity. "Something nicer, with a bit of colour?" Her eyes flickered between him and the wooden floor.
"With a butterfly?" She whispered and he nodded, brushing away her hair from her face. "Of course" He nodded, standing up and leading her to her bedroom where her ink pots were open and hazardously placed on her small desk.
He knelt beside her and carefully began drawing her butterfly and hearts exactly as she wanted. After a few moments of waiting for the ink to dry she reached for the ink pots. "Your turn, papa!" She cheered excitedly and Regulus swallowed harshly as she covered his dark mark with colorful doodles.
"Thank you, love." He whispered with a heavy heart.
iv.
Regulus sat in his living room, a steaming coffee on the table beside him and a new book in his hands. The sound of pattering footsteps pulled him from his novel. Whatever state he thought he'd see his daughter in, seeing her with tears streaming down her face wasn't one of them. His brows furrowed together as he discarded his book instantly. Before he could question her, she darted across the room towards him, settling on his lap burying her head into his chest. Sniffles echoed over the room as he held her, gently rocking her back and forth.
"Love, what's wrong?" He quietly asked, rubbing her back.
"I had a bad dream" She mumbled, in between broken sobs. Regulus calmed that she wasn't hurt by anything, but held her close nonetheless.
He muttered soft words in her ear that made her sniffles slowly cease. The realization waved over him as she relaxed against him, that she'd come to him for safety, for love. He held her for as long as she needed to drift back to sleep, not caring that his book's pages were now crumbled against the couch, or that his coffee had gone cold.
All that mattered was that he held his daughter so she knew everything was alright.
v.
Regulus felt his heart drop. He looked across the busy street of Diagon Alley and saw none other than Sirius. His jaw tightened as he saw the figure of his once brother approach him. It was odd, Sirius still looked like himself. He had his long dark hair and familiar grey eyes. But he'd grown a stubble beard and he looked older than he did the last time they'd seen each other. Regulus never really thought about it but he assumed he must look different too.
Sirius stopped in front of him, keeping a bit of distance between them. Regulus' jaw tightened as Sirius seemingly didn't know what to say.
"Sirius" Regulus said plainly, which made Sirius' eye twitch at the indifference in the tone of his voice.
"Dog" His daughter spoke up, apparently back from buying the candy she'd seen in the shop window.
Sirius' eyebrows rose as he turned towards the short girl. "Sirius is the dog star, right papa?" She asked, barely paying attention as he ripped open another packet of candy she'd bought. "Yes, that's right, love" Whatever facade and resolve Regulus had in front of his brother crumpled around his daughter.
His daughter outstretched the packet towards Sirius "Want one, dog star?" She asked with a mouth full of candy. Regulus peered down at her "Don't call people dogs, love" She nodded at his words, muttering an apology.
"'s alright. Been called worse" Sirius smirked lightly, taking one of the candy from the box.
Regulus shook his head slightly, and pulled out another couple coins. He handed them to her and pointed towards another store she'd wanted to go to. His daughter lit up with excitement and practically shoved the candy box into his hands as she ran off towards the next store. Sirius watched as the young girl rushed off. "Didn't know you had a daughter" He muttered under his breath.
Regulus nodded slowly, not wanting to point out the obvious. He would've known if things were different. If both of their actions and choices were different. "Where's- Uh" Sirius' hand waved towards where his daughter had been.
"It's just me. Me and her." Regulus responded without much context, he didn't want to trudge up old drama that meant nothing anymore. Sirius' brow furrowed together and sighed. "Th- Wow, Reg. That's a lot"
Regulus shrugged. His daughter was the best kid he could've wished for. "She's a good kid" Sirius eyed him, going silent for a moment before a small smile etched onto his face. "You're a good father."
Regulus never thought he'd be a father in the first place, let alone a good one. But it was easier than he'd ever thought. It wasn't like his studies, or his friendships, or like his relationship with his family. No, it came to him as easy as breathing. He saw his daughter, with his eyes and a need for someone to protect and love her. And everything just clicked.
"'S not hard to be. Not when you love them" Regulus rebutted which slightly stunned Sirius but after a moment he gathered his wits back and muttered his address to owl him a letter sometime. Regulus swallowed hard but nodded and watched as Sirius walked off, getting lost in the busy street.
"Papa! Look what I got" His daughter's voice pulled him from his complicated thoughts. A smile grew on his face seeing the box of butterfly string lights she'd bought.
"We'll have to put them up when we get home" Regulus leaned down to press a kiss on her hairline as she explained exactly where she wanted to put them.