Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. A/N Hope you enjoy this interesting oneshot I wrote.

When Regulus woke up that morning it was quiet. As usual. That was one of the things he missed about Sirius, the house had never been quiet when he had still lived at Grimmauld Place. He hadn't slept well due to nightmares, but that was to be expected he supposed, you don't almost get drowned by inferi and not suffer the consequences.

As Regulus got dressed his eyes were drawn towards the simple silver ring that now he now wore on his left hand. It made the young man feel warm inside as he thought about what it symbolised. Once dressed, Regulus wandered downstairs and into the dining room where his breakfast lay. That was typical, he always was the first downstairs and Kreacher made sure to have his food ready by six o'clock. Regulus ate quickly and then moved to the library to read.

It was eight o'clock when Walburga descended the stairs. Regulus wasn't concerned, she would just eat her meal and then go sit in the living room. Their mornings were like a train, always the same route, the same stops and the same timings. That morning, however, the train went off the rails and into uncharted territory.

"Regulus Arcturus Black!" Regulus shot up and hurried down the stairs as fear rapidly filled his mind. Hesitantly, he entered the living room as he was greeted with the sight of his furious mother standing in front of the family tapestry. She was glaring at where Regulus knew his name was. Edging to the side, he peered around Walburga's imposing figure so that he could see what had angered her. Next to his name on the tapestry was a small line that connected him to a new name, James Potter.

Regulus' miniature portrait looked less sullen and cold, every so often it would look towards James' and smile. His stomach fluttered at the sight. The other portraits on the tapestry were certainly not happy about the new addition and didn't bother to hide their annoyance, Regulus even caught Bellatrix snarling.

Suddenly, Walburga whirled around and grabbed Regulus' wrist in her iron grip. "Why is James Potter on our family tree?" She whispered, dangerously soft. When Regulus refused to answer she stormed into the hallway and out the door, still gripping his wrist. Before he knew it he was being squeezed in a tight tube of darkness. They landed. Outside Potter Manor. This was not good. Resisting the urge to vomit, he briefly wondered why the couldn't have just used the floo before he remembered that the Potters had blocked Walburga (and Orion, had he still been alive) from using their floo.

Walburga rapped her knuckles harshly, like everything else she did, upon the wooden door. The door was soon opened by Euphemia Potter. In his peripheral vision Regulus saw his mother wrinkle her nose at the lack of a house elf greeting them rather than the woman she hated. Though the feeling was most likely mutual, Euphemia didn't show it, something he appreciated from his mother-in-law. They didn't need a full blown war on top of the one already tearing Britain apart. Euphemia's eyes shifted from Walburga's face to Regulus' and he watched as curiosity and confusion filled her gaze. She stepped aside. "Come in."

Once inside, Walburga wasted no time in getting what she wanted. "Show us your family tapestry." She ground out, obviously displeased at the fact that she was in the home of blood traitors.

Euphemia raised her eyebrows, Regulus admired her bravery. "Why?"

"Just do it."

"I have a right to know what you want with my family tapestry." Euphemia shot back.

Well, even Walburga couldn't argue with that. "It has to do with our sons." Regulus privately thought she was the only person who could say the word 'son' with such hatred. Euphemia's eyes widened and she led the way to a formal looking dining room, one the Regulus assumed was used in cases such as business meetings. Behind the head of the table hung a tapestry similar to the Black family one. Without hestitating, Walburga strode over to it and glared harshly as she waited for Euphemia to join her. Regulus stayed near the door.

It didn't take Euphemia long to notice the addition to her family. Her gaze went straight to James' name and then Regulus'. Startled, she whipped around to stare at him, as if her brain hadn't quite made the connection yet. "I'll go get James." She stuttered, most likely shocked that her son hadn't said anything.

The marauders lived in a small flat in London, close to the ministry so that James and Sirius could get to Auror training easily while Remus worked in a children's bookshop and Peter stayed with his mother at her house. From the dining room Regulus could here her floo calling James as he avoided looking at his own mother. He could feel her anger behind him, like that of a bull ready to rampage.

When Euphemia entered the room again, Regulus noted that she had returned to her earlier state of calm, protective, mother. He marveled her ability to control her emotions so easily, though he himself could do the same, he always looked like a blank statue because like the rest of his family his emotions were strong and explosive, therefore the only way to mask them was by forcing himself to keep all feelings buried till they could be let out. Occlumency had been extremely helpful in the last few years.

"The boys should be here soon, they just had to change out of their uniform." Euphemia stated as she looked Walburga straight in the eye.

"Boys?" Walburga echoed icily.

"Yes, Sirius heard my explanation and refused to let James come here by himself." This set off Walburga's muttering about her estranged son and Regulus stiffened as he braced himself for whatever his brother's reaction may be. Realising he had zoned out in his worrying, Regulus looked up to see that both of the women had sat down at the ridiculously large table. As he joined them, he wondered just why pureblood families always had a large table like this when in reality most of them only had three to five people in their household. He was released from his musings when James and Sirius finally graced them with their presence.

"Hello Euphemia, why are they here?" Sirius greeted as he immediately engaged Walburga in a staring match.

Euphemia sighed heavily. "Something, interesting showed up on our tapestries this morning." She revealed. Both marauders blinked at her, confused and probably curious. Regulus' concern grew when it became obvious that Walburga had had enough. She stood up, slammed her chair underneath the table and stalked over to the tapestry. She pointed at Regulus' name and glared at James and Sirius as if they were at fault for everything that had gone wrong in her life. Sirius was the first to speak. He slowly turned to face James and stared at him disbelievingly.

"What the hell?" He whispered, his voice becoming higher pitched as he struggled to comprehend what he had just seen. The guilty look on his face reflected Regulus' when James looked at him helplessly and both held up their left hands for everyone to see the silver rings that they both wore.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Euphemia said softly at the same time that Walburga exclaimed.

"Why wasn't I informed!"

Regulus fixed his mother with a cold glare. "Why would anyone in their right mind tell you that you're trusty spare had married for love?" He asked her, bewildered that she would even ask.

James spoke up as well. "As for why I didn't tell you two, it just wasn't safe. For all of us. Not that I care about Walburga." He muttered the last bit under his breath but Regulus agreed wholeheartedly.

As expected, Walburga was furious. "You little wretch! After all I did, after everything I've done for you, you do this? Answer me!" When Regulus didn't, she muttered the imperius curse and he was forced to stand up and walk towards her. She let go of the curse. "Answer me." She spat.

"What did you do? What have you done for me that I'm supposed to be grateful for?" His voice didn't reach her volume, it wasn't in his nature to yell, but the anger was there.

For once Walburga Black was flustered. It didn't last very long though. "Emotions are weak! Blacks are not weak!"

Regulus' gaze intensified. "Blacks are not supposed to kneel either and yet when I told you that you that you made me join a group of murderers." He hissed.

"Are you challenging my knowledge!?" Walburga screeched.

"Yes."

He could practically see steam coming out his mother's ears. "Consider yourself disowned!" She then stormed out of the room and towards the fireplace. Euphemia hastily followed her, gently steering Regulus along with her. Walburga was so angry she didn't notice her newly disowned son next to Euphemia while the former Gryffindor made sure she could get through the floo. Regulus and Euphemia followed.

"You go get your stuff dear, I'll keep that mad woman busy and meet you back her in ten minutes." She said once they landed in the living room. Regulus nodded and hurried up the stairs. He packed his clothes, his letters from James, a blanket Andromeda and Narcissa had given him one christmas (Bellatrix had always felt she was above gift giving) and a few photos of him and Sirius. He shared a tearful goodbye with Kreacher, told the elf to take care of itself and descended the stairs. Euphemia was waiting for him and the sound of his and James' names being blasted of the tapestry filled the house.

Euphemia put her hand on Regulus' shoulder and the two flooed back to Potter Manor.

James and Sirius had seated themselves in the armchairs in front of the fireplace. Regulus placed his suitcase next to one and sat down, Euphemia did as well. "Right, Fleamont gets home from his office in around fifteen minutes, I'll go get some food and drink and we'll talk about this situation once he gets here. Alright?" They all murmured something that sounded affirmative and she left to go to the kitchen. It was awkward to say the least. While they all waited for Fleamont to arrive it was quiet and none of them had any idea what to say. Euphemia had managed to send him a rather blunt patronus message telling him that Regulus, James and Sirius were there and why. Occasionally she would try to engage one of them in conversation but they usually trailed off. Regulus tried to keep it up as well, it was after all the least he could do, but it was short lived.

Fleamont Potter arrived to an awkward mess in his home. Regulus briefly wondered if he could do anything that would make the situation any less uncomfortable but settled for staying quiet. Fleamont quickly hung his cloak up, sat down heavily and poured himself some tea. He then turned to face Regulus and held his hand out. Regulus took it. "Hello there, you're Regulus, correct?" Regulus nodded nervously. "I'm Fleamont, nice to meet you." The older man smiled at him warmly. To be honest, Regulus was surprised, he had expected this to be more complicated. He didn't even seem curious! Just genuinely happy to meet the son-in-law James hadn't told him anything about!

He was interrupted from his thoughts when Fleamont cleared his throat and leaned forwards, signalling to the newlyweds that now would be best time to have a long overdue discussion, well, more of an explanation.

A few hours later, Regulus found himself in James' old room. Actually, his and James' room. They had decided that it would be best if James and Sirius moved out of their flat and back into Potter Manor. Remus had moved out a few months earlier to spend time with his father as the war escalated and their relationship became more strained, while Peter had never moved in, having to take care of his mother from a very young age.

Regulus' nerves had gone from, light fluttering in the stomach to full on nausea. The prospect of getting to know his in-laws and reconnecting with Sirius was daunting, but with James by his side, he could do it. He could do anything.