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That afternoon after crying his little heart out, Regulus got out of bed and trudged downstairs. His hair was a mess and his eyes were red, puffy from crying. He had his dark green pajamas on with a robe on top—not the traditional Wizarding robe either, the Muggle one. The young boy hugged the robe around his body, feeling weak and oh so very sad.
When Regulus got downstairs he was greeted with a rather curious sight. Lord Potter was sat on a comfortable looking arm chair and chatting to the fire, someone was Floo calling the man. Lady Potter was sat on a rather stiff yet gorgeously patterned chair and knitting, except her wand was doing all the work and she was reading a book. Sirius and James... were nowhere to be found in the sitting room. Distantly though, a crash sounded throughout the Potter Manor followed by loud laughter and the two Heads of the House didn't even glance up.
Regulus, out of sheer curiosity and nothing else to do, made his way to the sound of the crash. The scene he came across was quite comical. Remus Lupin—a tall young man with brown hair and scars all across his face—was holding his wand pointed directly at Sirius, who was hung up in the air and a vivid pink color. James was laughing incredibly hard as was Peter Pettigrew, who looked a bit nervous as well.
The young Black boy raised a brow and asked, "What in Merlin's name is going on?" Remus glanced his way but looked back at serious, an amused smirk on his scarred face. James' laughter died down and he smiled brightly, shuffling over to Regulus. He threw an arm over his shoulder and started laughing again, though not as hard.
"Padfoot here thought it'd be funny to scare ol' Moony but he got 'im back," James explained with another laugh, his British accent was quite strong though that was to be expected since they were in Britain.
"Ah... I see," Regulus' grey eyes travel to the pink Sirius and he almost smiles in amusement but he holds back. "What time is it?"
"I-It's 8:33PM..." Peter mumbled in a squeaky voice. Regulus nodded but didn't say anymore.
Eventually, Remus let Sirius down and turned his skin back to normal, which the Black heir looked incredibly grouchy about. At some point the 4 Wizard's drifted downstairs when the smell of food wafted to their noses. Regulus, though he didn't have an appetite, also followed. They all took seats at the large dining table after helping Lady Potter set it up.
Regulus was rather silent during the entire dinner. While the four friends joked and laughed with the older Potter's, Regulus found himself reluctant to join so he didn't say anything. He just stared at his plate of food, occasionally pushing it around the plate with his fork. When everyone finished Regulus was the first to get up and leave, having barely ate his food. He walked down the long and darkening hallways of the Potter Manor, once again hugging the robe around his body.
After a few moments the boy paused, leaning against to the wall when he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He heard a several sets of footsteps nearing him and he desperately wished they wouldn't see him when they pass. When they rounded the corner, they walked right past Regulus as if he wasn't even there—even Sirius did so for crying out loud.
Regulus wondered if they really didn't see him or if they didn't care. He sighed softly when he saw them disappear down the hallway and looked at his hands, quite shocked to find them not there. Regulus closed his eyes and focused his magic on his body. When he opened them open again his hands were there and he blew out a breath of relief.
"Thank Circe," The boy muttered as he traveled quickly to his room. When he got in he shut the door behind him and shuffled over to the bed, crawling under the covers. He hid his head entirely and cuddled up in the comfortable blanket. He had never felt so much comfort; even if it wasn't that much.
Soon enough, the manor quieted down—signaling everyone's gone to bed. Regulus, who was nearly asleep at this point, heard a door open. He popped his head out from under the covers, his sleepy gaze flitting across the room when he spotted James, coming out of the bathroom which connected their rooms.
"James?" Regulus mumbled sleepily, too tired to remember to keep up his cold facade. James nearly spooked at the sound and he walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. His hand traveled to the younger boy's hair and he ran his fingers through it, which he leaned into despite himself.
"Hey, Reg," James said softly, his brown eyes were focused entirely on Regulus—not seeing anything but his adorably sleepy face. "You doin' okay? I noticed you didn't eat much at dinner."
"I'm okay.... just wasn't that hungry," Regulus mumbles after a moment of trying to think through his haze of sleep. James hum's a bit in acknowledgement, still running his fingers through Regulus' hair. He didn't say anything for awhile.
"You still need to eat, Reg. It's good for your body," James finally said after the long pause. Regulus, who had practically fallen asleep during the silence, couldn't even wake up enough to acknowledge the boys words. After another moment he fell asleep to the nice feeling of James running his fingers through Regulus' curly hair.
James just smiled and made sure he was covered up completely before he got up and left the room, moving over to the bathroom. He shut the door quietly behind him and whispered to the door—to the body sleeping on the other side, "Night, my love. Goodnight..."
