Sirius doesn’t see the Regulus that died in that cave in Harry, but he does see Regulus in Harry. He sees the little boy who toddled over to him instead of anybody else. He sees the baby whose first word was “Brother.” He sees the boy who whispered to him during Christmas of 1971 that he secretly wants to be a Gryffindor, too. He sees the kid who worked so hard to learn to ride a broomstick because he was naturally good at it and Regulus wanted to be like him. He saw the boy who followed him around like a shadow just because he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
You know, his brother. Not the bigoted Death Eater that died in the Horcrux cave, whoever that stranger was.
“hold” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 488 words
this, but make it jegulus (i tried to get it as close to the original as possible)
Remus is sitting in an armchair doubled over with laughter. Sirius has fallen out of his chair and is cackling on the floor with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Regulus is sitting on the couch trying his best to stay composed. And James in standing in the middle of the room with more passion and fire in his eyes than Regulus has ever seen.
“Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!” James is shouting.
“James—” Regulus tries to calmly interrupt.
“HOLD ON!” James looks pointedly at Regulus and his eyes look like they’re going to literally pop out of his head. “Her sister was a witch, right?” Regulus is trying so hard to hold back his laughter. “And what was her sister? A princess! The Wicked Witch of the East, Reg.” James is yelling, not unkindly just very passionately, looking directly at Regulus and nodding his head aggressively to emphasize every point.
James starts pacing in genuine distress. Sirius is rolling on the floor holding his stomach and laughing so hard his entire body is shaking. Remus has his hands over his mouth, which is doing absolutely nothing to contain his laughter.
Regulus stands up to meet James in the middle of the room. “I’m gonna stab him.” He mumbles under his breath, which makes Sirius laugh even harder—if that’s even possible.
James whips around to face Regulus. “You’re gonna looks at me and you’re gonna tell me that I’m wrong? Am I wrong?” James asks emphatically.
And the thing is—James is, in fact, very wrong. “It’s my favorite—” Regulus tries to interject but can’t even get a word in.
“She wore a crown, and she came down in a bubble, Reg!” And that proves absolutely nothing.
Regulus knows he’ll never get James to listen to him. “I’m not fighting with you.” He shakes his head, chuckling fondly.
James makes his way out of the living room. “Grow up!” He says over his shoulder.
“I’m not fighting with you.” Regulus says again.
“Grow up.” James seems to be losing steam as he leaves the room.
“Get educated!” Regulus yells then flops down on the couch and finally lets his laughter out.
Eventually Regulus, Sirius and Remus’ laugher fades into soft chuckles as they calm down and take several deep breaths to compose themselves.
It’s a few minutes later when James appears in the doorway with a sheepish look on his face—that Regulus thinks is adorable. He slowly makes his way over to the couch and sits down beside Regulus. He’s quiet for a few moments then turns slightly to look at Regulus.
“I’m not really mad.” James says in a small voice. “And you know I love you, right?”
Regulus chuckles fondly and takes James’ face in his hands. “Yes, I know you love me, Jamie.” He leans in to kiss James softly then pulls back the tiniest bit. “But you’re still wrong.” Regulus whispers against James lips.
both feeling insecure that their partners don’t love them as much as they love them because they’re not the stereotypical definition of a “normal couple” and that they will eventually resent them because of it
james potter 🤝 lily evans
two besties who worship the ground of their partners and love them more than they love themselves and don’t want anything to do with being a “normal couple” even if it would make life easier
credits to @marzst4rz for making me think about a regulus who self sabotages. a regulus who so desperately craves instability, chaos, heavy ups-and-downs because he finds comfort in the storm, in the adrenaline rush of something forbidden. im thinking about the regulus that goes back to things that are bad for him because he finds the most comfort in the category of things that eventually do more damage to him, because it's all he's ever known. he's only ever known life as a hurricane. he's never known the peace of stability, so he would not find comfort in something unfamiliar, something peaceful. he just doesn't know how to.