It was late afternoon when Regulus heard the baby boy screaming from the nursery. The poor child was in the middle of a nap when a bad nightmare troubled his heavy sleep. Regulus decided to take him downstairs, and they sat close to an object called a radio, a muggle machine that made music. He still remember the time James and Sirius came home with it, at first, he was quite sceptical. James, his husband, has the (annoying) habit to bring stuff they didn't need from the muggle world, but this, this thing made him ecstatic. "It's magic isn't it?? James, love, don't lie to me, you've enchanted it right?", but no, muggles really did that.
Which is quite impressive when you know they don't have magic.As they sat, Regulus put on his favourite song, Beautiful boy by John Lennon, that Monty used to sing to him when he had nightmares. The first night he's spent at the Potter's house, he had one of those terrible reminders of the childhood he had. It was right after Sirius' escape. Oh her eyes were definitely the worst thing about this nightmare, his own mother, looking at him like he was the most repellent thing she's ever seen. The only thing he could sense was disgust and hatred, her dark grey eyes, as hard as steel. "You will never be worthy of my love Regulus, you're just like him aren't you, a filthy mudblood." He saw her, wand in hand, walking closer to him at each word. "You will be nothing more than one of those disgusting things. WE are the people, they are just animals! Reggie, Honey, you won't be like them will you?" Her voice was nothing more than a threat, no sweetness or hint of compassion was found in it. It was just a long and monotonous soliloquy. The sad proof of her madness.
"You will never be my child. You are a servant of our dear Lord. The greatest Lord the world has ever been gifted. And I won't let this horrific mudblood, that was once your brother, influence you like that. You will behave Regulus. You will." That's when it hit him, the powerful greenish flash of light, the cruciatus curse.That's when he woke up. He needed a bit of time before acknowledging the hand that was slowly stroking his own. Monty was there, making the non-verbal promise of protecting him forever. After a while, or so he thought - he doesn't exactly know how much time they spent in the room, silent besides the young boy's quiet sobs - they went downstairs, and Fleamont put the song Beautiful Boy by John Lennon, took him in his arms and sang with the song.Those moments he shared with his husband's father were probably when he learned what parental love was like. So he tried his best to keep this habit with Norma and Naos, James' and his children. So he gently stroked the back of his son, slightly moving from left to right, singing along the song. It seemed to work as Naos slowly closed his eyes, tired after crying for hours. His little star or so he liked to call him.Naos is one of the stars of the constellation of Puppis, it's also known for being one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way. Norma is a constellation itself, a small one in the southern celestial hemisphere. Regulus hated his parent's education but the one thing he's always loved, about his family, is the naming system.
They're all named after a constellation or a star. His father is named Orion after the constellation which comes from a hunter in the greek mythology. His brother is named Sirius after the brightest star in the sky. And he's named after Regulus which is the brightest star in the Leo constellation. He perpetuated this tradition with his children since he's been found of astronomy for a long time by now and always found a certain comfort in the stars, it was like they were like him, they always look good on the outside but they're just fire and destruction. James always loved to hear his lover speak about astronomy so he agreed with the names, he loves to brag about having "the entire universe" at home which Regulus secretly (or not so secretly) loved.Their cute Father and son time was healing for both of them, Naos felt protected by the (really) muscular arms of his father and Regulus felt loved, useful. He finally managed to appreciate his own work as a dad.
He had a bit of hard time learning with Norma. When you've never been loved, it's hard to give yours to somebody, even if it's the most precious little baby on earth. And believe him, when he saw Norma for the first time at the adoption center he melted, she was the most precious little girl he's ever seen. Her dark skin reminded him of James's, but he totally fell in love with her smile. He knew that she was going to be their child. But, regarding this, he was pretty bad at first. Whenever she cried, he had to take her to his husband, he panicked and ended crying himself. It was truly hard. Imagine loving someone as much as a dad loves his child but not being able to help them, to comfort them.
However, he did learn, as hard and long as it was, he learned with the help of James.Oh the first time he managed to soothe her down by himself was the best day of his life. He felt so proud, he felt like he managed to love her. As much as he loved her and knew it, he had to make this step to understand that he was worthy of loving her. That he was worthy of being her father. That he was her Father.And now, any time he calmed Naos down, he got that feeling back. And he loved it to be honest.Their quiet, cuddly time was interrupted by loud laughter and a pretty huge din. As he turned to the window, Regulus saw his beautiful little girl running away from the biggest threat ever, her father's tickles. She kept running and running and laughing. The scene was an ethereally beautiful in he's eyes.
That's when he started giggling himself. "You see Naos, that's what we'll have to endure everyday for the rest of our lives now. You have to be my biggest ally in this war. I already lost your sister to your father. I can't risk to lose you too." He said looking at the sleeping baby.James and Norma were two troublesome kids in Regulus' eyes, Naos was his only hope, but then again, he had no hesitation on the boy's mischievous future. It's hard, isn't it, to not become little demons when you have one of the infamous Marauders as a dad?At least, they're learning so many tricks that Regulus isn't scared about their future grades or jobs. His kids are intelligent, that's for sure. Being a Potter also means getting good grades without having to work that much, it must be something in the blood or just the way they educate their children.It's in this atmosphere that they spent the evening, carefree, just laughs and cuddles. It's in these kinds of moments that Regulus Black remembers that he became Regulus Potter, a man way too similar to Fleamont Potter, his father-in-law.
He isn't a Black anymore. He is finally free. Free from what his destiny should have been. Free from the Dark Lord that died a little over fifteen years ago. But most of all, he was finally free from his mother, the person he was the most terrified of. He didn't perpetuated the horrors he had to grow up through. He's not Orion and will never be like Walburga. He could never thank James enough for giving him this opportunity, the opportunity of being a good parent, but most of all the opportunity to clear his soul of all the bad things he had to endure, the opportunity to heal for the trauma, the opportunity to love. James gave him the opportunity to live, and their love-story is the perfect example, but that is a story for another day.
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