Let the Light In

Chapter 2

Regulus spent the best part of half an hour showering, primping, and polishing as best as he could to bring some colour back into his washed-out complexion. After ten minutes fussing over his hair, trying to position each curl to look slightly more refined he gave up and resolved himself to the fact that he was just going to have to look like a sickly Victorian child. He heard a loud, piercing whistle from outside the window. Undoubtedly his brother, hurrying him along.

"Shut it Sirius, I'm coming now" he called down through the open window in his bathroom. He risked a peek over the sill and saw his brother leaning casually against a fence post, black jeans and loose t shirt giving him the appearance of an off duty rockstar. Next to him was James, his James. Regulus' breath hitched at the shock of suddenly being confronted with the man he had spent the best part of six years trying to forget. James was stood next to Sirius rocking back and forth slightly on his heels. He looked much the same as he had in school, his tall athletic build had softened only slightly, his dark skin and messy hair glinting in the bright sunlight. Every bit as beautiful as he had been at eighteen.

One rather significant and unignorable difference was the small child he held in his arms, the little boy was resting his head against James' chest, his little arms reaching around his father's neck. So that was Harry, Regulus thought. Looking at the child it was difficult to feel any of the resentment he thought he might have towards him. He was resting peacefully against James, being rocked absentmindedly and Regulus couldn't fault the child for his contentedness, it was probably the luckiest child alive to be wrapped up in James Potter's arms.

Regulus pushed himself away from the windowsill and steadied himself with a deep breath. So that was it, he had seen James, seen his son, and the world hadn't ended. He could make it through this next part, looking him in his eyes, speaking to him. He shoved his wallet and baccy into his pocket but couldn't resist checking himself out in the mirror one last time to see if there was anything he could do to make it look like he hadn't spent the last 12 hours entirely off his face. No, it was absolutely a lost cause. His muggle jeans and cotton shirt were going to have to do. With a final deep breath and with more bravery that he'd had to muster in years, he strode determinedly out towards the Saturday morning sunshine.

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"About bloody time" Sirius declared as Regulus walked through the small door next to the kebab shop. "I thought you'd gone and drowned yourself in the shower".

Regulus said nothing and just shot his brother a dark look as he squinted through the bright summer sunlight. He looked around, an attempt at nonchalance. James wasn't there.

"I thought you said James was here?" He asked.

"Oh, he was- he had to go. Harry had a fever or something" Sirius replied. "Told me to say hello."

"He did? Is Harry okay?"

"Yeah I think so, he seemed fine to me. I'll go check on him later." The poorly concealed concern in Sirius' voice betrayed the depth of his affection for his godson. "In any case it's just you, me, and the ghosts of our terrible, neglectful, depraved parents today. Should be fun!" He said with a wink.

"Yes, I really couldn't think of a better way to spend my weekend." Regulus replied dryly. He took a deep breath to steady himself against the intense relief and disappointment flooding through him that he wasn't, in fact, going to have to spend the entire day with James Potter after all. The sneaking feeling that Harry's fever was likely an excuse to allow James to get away buried itself like a rock in Regulus' stomach.

They began making their way down the busy London streets towards Angel. Archway wasn't that far but would take at least half an hour to walk. He hadn't intended on ending up living so close to his wretched childhood home, but when it came to deciding where to live once he finally turned away from his awful family, he had found himself back in North London. He hadn't had a lot of choice in all honesty, due to his considerable lack of funds he had to take the first cheap room he could find. He also liked North London; other than Hogwarts it was the only place he'd ever actually considered home. Not Grimmauld Place, no. But the narrow alleys, dusty streets and busy parks were where he and Sirius had spent much of their time when they could sneak out as kids. Of course, they had just been observers then. Peering around with wide eyes as teenagers drunk cans along the canal path, mothers fussed over their babies in small flowery cafes, as balding men with protruding bellies roared to some muggle sport through pub windows.