#walburga and effie are sitting next to each other

[maryoliverdotcom]

in the back of my mind the marauders and the potters and walburga and the black siblings are having a nice family dinner and everyone falls back in love with each other argue with the wall

[allyeardepression]

@jegulus-microfic | march 25 eyeliner | words: 819

tw: child abuse, blood, mentions of violence in the past

James was going mad, and it was all Walburga’s doing.

It all started when Regulus finally got out of this horrible imitation of a home. The boy was barely past his sixteenth birthday at the time; when he fell out of the Potters' fireplace, Regulus looked even worse than Sirius did the night he ran away. The older brother has been beaten up badly but could manage to stand on his own; on the other hand, the night the younger brother got out, he was fighting for a breath like a man drowning; his whole face was swollen and covered in blood.

When Regulus appeared in their living room, only James and Sirius were home. At the sight of him, they both panicked to the point where they forgot how to think. All Sirius could do was turn Regulus onto his back and hold his head so the younger boy wouldn’t choke on his own blood while crying and begging anyone who would listen to keep his baby brother alive. At the same time, James was running around the house, looking for something—anything—to help his best friend’s brother.

Thankfully, Effie and Monty arrived only a few minutes after Regulus, and as soon as they processed what was happening, they took all three boys to St. Mungo’s.

Not even a week later, Regulus looked like nothing had ever happened to him. At first, all he did around the house was eat, sleep, and argue with Sirius, but as time passed, the arguments turned into talks and helping each other. James didn’t have to ask to know the Black Brothers were trying to fix their relationship; he saw it in the way Sirius talked about Reggie and how he started bringing the younger boy with them on nights out and letting him into his own world. The change was noticeable in Regulus, too; he opened up a little, spent time with James’ parents, and started trying out muggle stuff like records, Polaroid, or cigarettes. Maybe James didn’t know him well, but he understood that those little things were important both for Sirius and Regulus.

In the first half of August, when Regulus was at their house for a little over a month, James found him sitting on a bench in their backyard. He was reading ‘Crime and Punishment’ Effie gave him, while James’ own copy waited to be read under his arm.

“Do you like it?” the Gryffindor asked, taking a seat next to Regulus.

The boy raised his head slowly, evidently reading the last few words on that page. When their eyes met, James literally lost his mind. Not only that, he also lost his ability to hear, feel, and think—everything except for seeing—because right there in front of him sat the boy he always found beautiful, yet at that moment James couldn’t come up with anything as mesmerising as Regulus’ silvery eyes outlined with heavy black. This mix must’ve outshined the star Regulus was named after. James felt like he could fly just by looking into those eyes; he started thinking of a son-

“Potter? Are you quite alright?” A gentle hand on his shoulder pulled James out of his haze. He blinked once, twice, and a third time for good measure before he closed his mouth (When did I even open them?), swallowed thickly, and mumbled something unintelligible. It was Regulus’ time to blink. After a second, the boy burst out into a loud laugh. “Oh god, Potter, come on! It’s just a little bit of eyeliner; Sirius wears it all the time!” Reg kept laughing, still holding James’ shoulder.

“Yeah,” the older boy managed to spit out when the other started calming down. “But he doesn’t look half as good as you do.” Regulus froze, the grin on his face turning into a sheepish little smile, a pretty pink creeping up his pale cheeks. “Oh,” James started, wondering why he’d said that. “I—I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable; I’m so, so very sorry, I—"

“That’s alright, James. I’m-“ The younger boy cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I’m glad you like it,” he finished, biting his lower lip and still smiling a bit.

James, whose smile was normally big and bright, smiled shyly at Regulus.

“Do you mind if I-?” he pointed at his book. The younger Black looked over at him and shook his head slightly.

“Not at all; we can discuss the story later, if you’d like?” It came out as a question more than a statement, so James nodded once and started reading from where he finished last night.

The silence surrounding them was comforting—just a little buzz of bugs flying around and wind rustling leaves on an apple tree a bit ahead of them. Surrounded by all of it and still slightly nervous from earlier, neither of them noticed the glances they were stealing at each other.

[lexithwrites]

Just imagine a ‘slipping through my fingers’ montage of Sirius running away and bringing regulus with him to the potters, Effie and Monty setting up the spare rooms for these young boys—they’re still babies to them—and making hot chocolate as James rubs Sirius back and watches regulus as he just quietly sits there.

Then it cuts through the next few years; Sirius relaxing into life at the potters like clockwork because he’s spent summers there and regulus taking a lot longer to settle. Effie being so patient with him and never forcing him to talk until one night he cries to her and she strokes his hair telling him he’s loved. Monty taking the three boys out for lunch once a week and trying new places. James teaching regulus to cook like his mum taught him and Sirius finally learning guitar now he has the time.

Every Christmas they bring the other marauders over and regulus invites his group too. Barty and Pandora gossiping with effie and Dorcas and Evan talking to Monty about music. James and regulus exchanging longing stares that only effie sees. When Sirius and regulus have a blowout and they each go to a different parent for comfort. When regulus first calls Effie ‘mum’. If Walburga or Orion showed up trying to get them back effie and Monty are so damn protective of their kids, their babies.

When James and Sirius go to university and regulus is alone with his parents permanently and he comes out to them both. They already knew. Sirius coming home for the holidays with Remus and Monty nearly cries he’s so proud. Remus baking with effie and Sirius just watching from the door knowing he’s going to marry that man. Monty eventually catching James and regulus sneaking around and he tells them it’s okay. When regulus goes to Uni next and Monty and effie are finally alone after all these years. They both cry that first night.

They raised three boys together, and they couldn’t be prouder of them.