I Will Follow You Into The Dark || Jegulus

91. I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Harry was 11 years old this year - meaning that he would be going to Hogwarts.
That idea filled James with anxiety. Well, sure, he did fine at Hogwarts, and Harry needs an education. But to James, he was still the little boy he had raised alongside his husband and his best friends.

Plus, when Harry went off to Hogwarts, there would be familiar faces. There were the Weasleys, with their youngest son Ron, who would be in Harry's year. They got along great in their childhood, forming a bond like no other. There was also Neville Longbottom. A quieter boy, who tended to forget things easily, but with the sweetest heart, who cares about his friends deeply. There was Minerva, who James trusted with his life. Sje was there for him when he needed help most, and she never sugar-coated things. James loved her realism.

But then there would also be people James was not too fond of. Snape, for one, was a professor at Hogwarts. He could never bring himself to trust that man, no matter how much Dumbledore insisted he was good. Regulus was not happy that Draco, his nephew by all technicality, would be in Harry's year. James didn't like to judge people based on their parents, as made obvious by the man he married, but Lucius Malfoy was a special type of malicious. A true hater who would definitely raise his son as such, no matter what doubts Regulus had about Narcissa.

It was a weird and complicated situation. After the war, there were still many battles with leftover death eaters who kept persisting. Those death eaters included Bellatrix and Lucius. Bellatrix was caught and arrested, but Lucius was in and out of trials for years, always seeming to slip by. After a long and arduous eight years, Lucius was finally arrested for being a death eater, leaving Narcissa alone to raise her son, but was it too late for the boy? Narcissa was not free from blame, either. She herself might not have been a death eater, but she was passive in letting them commit terrible crimes against humanity countless times. She was there as her sister and Husband did horrible things to Regulus, and James thought that what she did was just as bad as the rest of them. Regulus didn't share the same sentiment. He related to Narcissa in some ways, and James reluctantly agreed with his husband. 

On the day they dropped Harry off at the train station, Draco and Naricca recognized Regulus. "Is that Uncle Reggie?" The small boy asked his mother, tugging on her robes. 

Regulus felt a tugging at his heart at the fact that Narcissa must have, at the very least, shown her boy photos or talked bout Regulus to him. "It is, Draco." She smiled passively. Narcissa looked tired, and she avoided eye contact with Regulus. James was glaring daggers, and Regukus elbowed him in the side. 

"Regulus, don't you dare let her pull you back into this madness," James whispered, even though their son had already run off to the train to meet with his friends. 

"This is different, James. She is different. The war is over, my parents are dead, and the black family legacy ends with me and Sirius. The least we can do is try to heal. My entire life, I have waited for the moment that Bellatrox and Licius didn't have control over Cissy. I finally have that moment." 

James sighed and let Regulus approach his cousin. 

"I'm so sorry, Reggie." Narcissa said without hesitation, "Would you like to meet your nephew? This is Draco." She placed her hands on her son's shoulder. 

"Hello, Draco, I'm Regulus." Regulus shook the boy's hand. 

"Mother talks about you a lot. You killed Voldemort," The boy said very straightforwardly. 

"Not exactly, but-" Regulus started,

"He did. Him and Harry." James smiled, placing a hand on Regulus's back. 

"James. I can't take credit for anything." Regulus frowned. 

"He would never have died if you hadn't destroyed the Horcruxes." Regulus sighed and nodded