KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU ⇒ jegulus one shots

REGULUS BLACK'S NEW LINE OF WORK

It is a darkened late Autumn's evening as Peter trudges back towards Godric's Hollow, back from the depths of The Dark Lord's home, back from his alternative life.

The wind whistles lowly, the curtains are closed, only the kitchen light on. But Peter can hear light conversation. They're all there. All of his friends. Miraculously, Peter has become gifted at betraying the truth, of lying fluently and flawlessly to his friends.

It is almost rewarding to be so cunning. There is a power that comes with finally having the upper hand. There is especially a power within having the upper hand when nobody else knows that you do.

He raises his hand to knock at the door, but James' face appears before he even has the time to knock. Has he been waiting for him? "Wormtail, come in!" Cheery as always, James grins.

Peter would have never imagined how easy it would be to trick James Potter. James is golden, pure sunlight and extremely unsuspecting. Sirius, on the other hand, is less unsuspecting. However, Remus is the one Peter has been watching out for; because Remus is the one who has been watching out for him; always questioning him, sly comments.

The wolf is Remus comes out lately and Peter fears the rat in him is not enough to drive it back in.

"Hey, Prongs," Peter greets. "How is everyone?"

"We're good. S'just the four of us tonight, Lily's at her parents," James explains. He leads Peter to the kitchen, looking back only to speak again; "But we do have a visitor,"

Peter stops in his tracks as he sees said visitor. "Hello, Pettigrew," None other than Regulus Black spits at him, seated at the very head of the table, a smug smirk sitting upon his face, arms folded over his chest.

When Peter turns, Sirius has already rose to his feet to block the door. "What have you been up to, Wormy?" Sirius snarks a little. "Don't be shy. Regulus has been very helpful, but I'm sure that you could provide us with some more details, eh?"

"I...I swear...you're-" Peter scrambles for words. "You're my friends! i wouldn't do this! Sirius-"

James reaches Regulus' side and Peter watches as he mumbles something to the younger man. Remus chuckles a little. "Had you been around more in recent months," He turns to Peter. "You might've figured it all out. We've known about you for quite some time, so don't you dare lie," His face turns stoney.

Peter's next approach is to gawk at Regulus, his new tactic is to completely change his story and simply confess. "He'll know what you've done-"

Regulus is not intimidated. Not in the slightest. He stands up now, James still lingering at his side. Regulus arches an eyebrow, questioningly. "Not if we kill you now-"

"Hey, no, nobody is killing anybody; we'll have the ministry deal with him," Remus jumps in, glaring at Peter.

Sirius smirks a little. "Send for the ministry now," He says.

Peter gawkes, his mouth agape. "N-no, you can't." He protests slightly, reaching for his wand. Unfortunately for him, Moody enters the room swiftly.

TWO HOURS PRIOR

Regulus blinks, swallowing a little as he watches James hand Harry to Lily. "I mean, do...do you actually think that this will work?"

James nods. "Course I do," He answers, assured. "Besides, I...I don't like you hanging around those meetings and with Peter dealt with, you won't have to for much longer," He utters. "I've only got a target on one child's head, I...I won't let it happen to another one,"

Regulus swallows back a hesitant cough as James moves to stand behind him, his larger hands coming to meet the beginning swell of Regulus' belly. "We're gonna be alright, Reg," James gently pats the taunt skin of Regulus' abdomen. "You've been so brave for our little one, honey,"

Regulus can not help but sniff as he leans back into James' embrace, torn slightly as he sighs and inhales the familiar, comforting scent of his boyfriend. "It's...it's been so hard, James," He whispers. "Listening to them talk about you, about Lily and Harry," He swallows. "I've been so angry and upset, I...I don't know if we should get our hopes up that trapping Pettigrew like this will work,"

James presses a kiss to the top of Regulus' head. "I know, darling, I know. But it'll all be over soon," He reassures softly. "Lily is taking Harry to her place to wait it out, it'll be okay,"

Lily is taking Harry to her place.

James and Lily had separated during her pregnancy with Harry. It hadn't been right for them, or so James has told Regulus. The love that they shared for one another no longer existed, but Harry did.

As it should turn out, co-parenting has become something James is a natural at. He and Lily share custody and that means that Regulus not only gets to see little Harry James Potter regularly and share news to him about his incoming siblin, but he also gets practice.

Regulus has never been maternal, he is sure that there is not a single maternal bone in his body. But with his boyfriend's baby boy, he seems to be doing alright, and that is enough for him. They will all adjust and figure it out together, as one strangely large and dysfunctional blended family.

"I...I'm still not too sure about all this, James," Regulus mumbles.

James rubs a hand over his lover's bump, leaning down to kiss his temple. "Well, I'm sure of it, hon. With your brains and my dashing looks, we surely outsmart Wormtail," James chuckles with a soft him.

Regulus simply rolls his eyes and allows James to pet his belly, reassuring both him and their little one that this will all be alright soon, that this will all be over soon; and then they can work on transforming the spare bedroom into a nursery.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Over 1000 words! This is short and sweet as I'mtrying to get back into the swing of things! Sorry for the delay in updates, all is explained in the latest authors note of 'ENCHANTED'. 😊💛