Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Hogwarts Assignment 4 - Muggle Music - Sweeney Todd; Someone coming home.
Other Challenges Listed at the Bottom.
Beta'd by the lovely Sam
Word Count - 2056
AN - This is AU. No Lily happened and no Harry. Fair warning.
Finally Home
The cell door clanged noisily as it opened, but the man inside gave no reaction. He'd long become used to the sounds of Azkaban.
"Black, stand in the middle of the cell, legs apart."
Regulus did as he was bid, not bothering to look at the Auror who'd arrived to do what Regulus assumed was a spot check. He knew who it was, how could he not recognise that voice?
He stood still as the check on his body was made, rolling his eyes at the length it took. He was taken off guard however, when a bundle of cloth was handed to him.
"Get dressed."
…
James wasn't listening to the Azkaban guards prattling on as the three of them stood outside the cell. He hated the prison, but he'd promised Sirius that he'd take care of his little brother. That was why he'd put so much effort into getting Regulus acquitted, even when he himself wasn't sure the younger man deserved it.
Trying to put his best friend from his thoughts, he turned when the guard got his attention, gesturing that Regulus was ready.
The door was opened once more, and James silently led Regulus out, ignoring the shouts and jeers of the other prisoners as he walked up the aisle between cells to the office. The paperwork was already completed, and James had followed Sirius' instructions on getting Regulus somewhere to start anew.
Another hour and he'd be done with the whole business. His last debt to Sirius paid in full.
…
Regulus wasn't sure to make of the silence when Auror Potter led him from the cell. He knew he hadn't been in Azkaban long enough to complete the sentence he'd been given. For a start, he still had his mind, and had he been here for ten years, he knew he wouldn't be lucky enough to still have coherent thought.
"Sign your name on the dotted line," Potter muttered flatly when they reached the office. He was gesturing to a scroll of parchment and a quill on the desk. When Regulus opened it up, it was to find a full pardon.
"How -"
"Sign your name on the dotted line."
Regulus did as he was bid once more, and as soon as he lifted the quill, Potter was scrolling the parchment back up and putting it into a pocket of his robe.
"Take my arm," Potter ordered, holding his arm out.
Preparing himself for the feeling of side along, Regulus rested a hand on James'.
He couldn't believe he was being released. He was going home.
…
James showed Regulus around the flat quickly, pointing out the relevant rooms. On the table, he placed a Gringotts key and a sealed letter.
"Sirius left you money to get yourself sorted and a letter. I have no idea what it contains, but I expect that, if he left you any instructions, you'll follow them. He didn't die for you to fuck up again."
Forcing himself calm, James looked at Regulus. The younger man paled at the sound of his brother's name, though his face remained impassive. Oddly, that helped James to calm himself.
"I don't want to see you locked up again. It wasn't what he wanted."
Regulus nodded once to show he understood, and James returned the nod, Apparating away without another word. He wanted nothing more than a bottle of whisky and a glass.
…
Reggie,
If you're reading this, then James did as I asked and managed to get you pardoned. I… I know I wasn't the best brother to you when we were growing up, but I couldn't see you rotting in Azkaban, not when I knew that you didn't deserve to be there.
There's a vault, James will have left you a key. There's enough gold in there for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life, but… I hope you don't just live on it.
Get a job, Reggie. Make friends. Get drunk and make a fool of yourself. Have fun. Do all the things that I should have taught you about - the things I would have taught you about had things been different.
Mother and Father are both in the ground, but Andromeda lives not to far from the area you're living in. Reach out to her, she'll help you if you need it.
Enjoy your freedom, Reggie, more importantly, live your life. We don't always get a second chance, but you have, and I want you to use it. Okay?
And I'm sorry. For James. For what I did. I was selfish and a jerk, and I'm sorry.
I love you, kid.
Sirius.
Tears fell from Regulus' eyes onto the parchment as he read it a second, and then a third time. He'd known that Sirius had been killed, had been told by the guards, but the letter in his hand brought home the reality that he'd never see his big brother again.
Looking around the flat, Regulus made his way into the kitchen. It had been stocked with food, but food wasn't what he needed right now. Searching the cupboards, he finally found what he was looking for.
He didn't even bother with a glass. He drank the whisky straight from the bottle.
…
James rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was almost finished with a double shift and he was more than ready to go home and crawl into bed.
"James?"
"Hmm?"
James looked up to see Frank Longbottom standing at the doorway to his office.
"You look rough, mate."
James cracked a small smile. "Cheers."
Frank shrugged. "You've a visitor."
Frowning, James stood up. "Who is it?"
"Regulus Black."
James blinked. That was probably about the last name he was expecting to fall from Frank's lips. Following the taller man through the corridors, he found himself in the main office of the Auror headquarters.
"I put him in interview room two," Frank said, nodding his head to the relevant door. "He didn't say what he wanted."
James entered the room, raising his eyebrow when he saw Regulus standing in the corner of the room.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, his professional mask firmly in place.
"I, uh, I wanted to thank you," Regulus said after a moment. "I realised how much work you must have put into getting me out of Azkaban, and I wanted you to know that I really do appreciate it. But… that I also think Sirius was unreasonable to ask you to do it."
James wasn't really sure what to say. "Okay."
Regulus blinked. "That's it?"
"I'm not really sure what you were expecting," James admitted, running a hand through his hair.
"I know that quite a lot of time has passed, Potter, but one thing we always had was honesty. Why don't you try for a bit of that?"
"You're angry," James noted dryly. "Why are you angry?"
Regulus' eyes flashed, but then the fight seemed to drain from him in an instant. He leant against the wall, the chill of the wall welcome against the heated skin of his face.
"I… don't even really know."
"How's freedom treating you?" James asked, after an awkward pause.
"Freedom… what freedom?" Regulus replied bitterly. "I might be able to walk around again outside, but I'm not free in my head. I've swapped one prison for another, albeit a more comfortable one."
"Sirius didn't want that for you."
Regulus rolled his eyes. "Fuck Sirius, and what Sirius wanted. I'm grateful you got me free on his behalf but I'm sick to goddamn death of everything being about fucking Sirius."
James snorted. No matter that Sirius had been his best friend, he could understand the sentiment. James' life had, for so long revolved around him, that without Sirius, he didn't really know who he was anymore. Not that he'd tell Regulus any of that.
He suspected the younger man already knew.
Caught up in the thought, he didn't realise Regulus had neared him until he felt soft fingertips brushing along the back of his hand.
"Is it so bad that I want to know that there was a part of you that did it because you still care?" Regulus asked, quietly. "Is it so bad that I don't want you to have freed me just to leave me to live my life? Is it bad, that after you destroyed me by leaving me, I still need you in the same way I need air?"
James was saved from answering when Regulus swept from the room.
Regulus didn't hear the answer that came long minutes later, whispered out into the empty room.
"Of course I still fucking care."
…
Regulus did part of what Sirius suggested. He got a job. He reached out to Andromeda. He went through the daily motions.
But he didn't, couldn't, live.
He survived.
Letting himself into the flat he now called his, he knew immediately that someone was inside. He kept a hand on the wand he'd gotten himself at Ollivanders, and walked cautiously into the living room.
"James?"
The man in question was looking at a picture that had been placed on the mantelpiece, the only personal item Regulus had bothered to put in the room. It was of the two of them when they were younger, when they were happy.
Before Sirius ruined everything.
James was dressed more casually than Regulus had seen him in years, in dark blue jeans and a green cashmere jumper.
"You do realise that an as an Auror, you should probably know better than to break into someone's house."
James turned to look at him, raising his eyebrow. "It's not breaking in when you have a key."
"Uh-huh. Why are you here, James?"
"I'm not sure," James admitted. "Well, no. That's a lie."
"Drink?" Regulus offered, for want of something to do more than anything else. His heart was beating a hole in his chest and he wanted something to do to calm his shaking hands.
"No, thank you. I, uh. I came to apologise."
"For what?"
"For being a dick?" James offered. He finally turned away from the picture. "I didn't just get you out of Azkaban because Sirius wanted it. I'd already been working on it. That's why it happened so quickly after Sirius died."
Regulus raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Look. What you said when you came to the Ministry. I do care, Regulus, I always have. I thought he'd come around, you know? When he found out about us, I expected the blow up, but… I always thought, give him time, he'd realise that he wasn't losing me just because I had you too."
James took a breath.
"I can blame him until the ends of the earth, but in the end, I made the decision to heed him when he told me to stay away from you. That's on me, and I can only apologise for it. I have no excuses, but I am sorry, Reg."
"Why did you do it?" Regulus asked, stepping closer.
Running a hand through his hair, James' lips quirked up in a wry smile. "I was a coward. I was so scared to take the chance, because if I went all in with you and you left me, I'd have been left with nothing. It's not a good reason, but it's the truth and it's all I have."
Regulus nodded. "All I've ever wanted from you was honesty."
"I was angry with you as well. When you got arrested. I was so angry, because why would you throw your life away like that? Sirius didn't tell me until months later that it wasn't what it was made out to be. That you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. As soon as he told me, I started working on gathering the evidence to get you released."
Regulus nodded. "Okay."
James' smiled. "That's it?"
"That's it. I can be angry at you, or I can get over it. Since being angry at you means you leaving, I've chosen to get over it. I missed you, James. So much, I missed you."
James reached out a hand to stroke Regulus' cheek. "I love you. Still. Always."
"Forever," Regulus finished their old words, leaning into James' touch.
Months after his release, and he was finally, finally coming home.
Written for;
Character Appreciation - 1. Ministry Worker
Buttons - Pairing; JamesRegulus
Serpents - 13. Gold-ringed Cat Snake - "Freedom… what freedom?"
Play More Cards - 4. Rummy - slash pairing.