Chapter 5: Christmas at the Potter's
Chapter Text
The few days spent at Hogwarts for Christmas were peaceful for Regulus. He, Remus and Sirius met and would spend time together in the Gryffindor common room or on the school grounds. Regulus played chess with Remus, and he won one game while Remus won the other two games.
Now, however, he was standing outside the Potters' Manor, with Sirius next to him, suddenly feeling very nervous.
"Maybe I should have stayed at Hogwarts," Regulus said to Sirius, "What if our parents ask the Professors where we are and find out that neither of us are there?"
"Breathe, Reg. Mr and Mrs Potter are lovely, and you'll get on with them just fine. James wants you here, and there's no way he'd let you go back to Hogwarts," Sirius replied and Regulus sighed.
"But -"
"Sirius, it's good to see you again!" Mrs Potter opened the door with a warm smile. "And you must be Regulus. We've heard a lot about you," she said and Regulus blinked. What did she mean they heard a lot about him?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Potter," Regulus said politely as she ushered them both inside.
"Come in, come in. James!" Mrs Potter called, and once she had done that, she also called for one of their House-Elves, Dippy, who appeared a moment later to take their bags from them. "You'll be staying in our guest rooms which are near James's bedroom. He will give you a tour of the manor and grounds. I'll call you for lunch when it's ready," she said and Regulus nodded in understanding and Sirius grinned happily.
"Understood, Mrs P. James! Hurry up!" Sirius called out loudly, and Regulus stared at Sirius, he had never been like this at home. Here, he was more himself and happier than Regulus had ever seen him before. Whereas at their parents, he was more closed off, cold, and unhappy. He was happy to see Sirius like this.
Perhaps one day, Regulus would be like this too.
He brought his thoughts together when he saw James finally run down the stairs. Regulus rolled his eyes at him as James arrived out of breath. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and black trousers, and his hair was a mess, like always.
"It's rude to keep guests waiting," Sirius scolded at him jokingly, and James managed to catch his breath.
"It's seven thirty, Sirius! Why are you here at this ungodly hour in the morning? It's the holidays, I normally sleep in till nine!" James defended himself.
"Actually, he was awake at the crack of dawn this morning, he had to go on a run and make himself look perfect, even though he already is," Mrs Potter cooed, messing up his hair.
Regulus smiled when James blushed red, trying to move her hands from his now-neatened hair. "Ma!"
All she did was smile. "Go on, off you go, it's my holiday too." She shooed them off and Regulus followed James and Sirius up the stairs to their rooms.
"Sorry about that," James apologised, and Sirius laughed.
"Don't be, that was golden! So, who were you trying to impress? You never go on runs," Sirius teased, nudging him in the ribs.
"I wasn't trying to impress anyone," James mumbled. "Sirius, I don't know why I have to take you to your room when you've stayed here before. But there's yours." He pointed to the room next to his own. Sirius wandered off into his room. "Reggie, yours is opposite Sirius's, here," he said, showing him his room.
Regulus blinked, it was a pretty decent-sized room, and the theme of the wallpaper and colours were silver and green.
Regulus put his bag down and nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you."
"You can stay here for a bit, or I could take you on a tour with Sirius?" James suggested and Regulus thought about it, he'd love to sit down and just read. But…
"I'll come on the tour, see why Sirius likes this place so much," Regulus said and James smiled.
"Ah, that'll be because we can fly here, Dad put wards around the grounds and Muggle-repelling spells, so nobody sees us," he explained.
Regulus hummed, "That'll be it then, not because he gets to spend time with his best friend," he joked, making James laugh.
They got to Sirius's room, who had collapsed on his bed and fallen fast asleep.
Regulus and James backed out of the room slowly and closed the door quietly.
"We could do the tour without him, he has been here before. And there's no chance of waking him up when he's in that state," James said with a smile and Regulus nodded.
"Sure, I'd like that," he said.
He was shown around the rest of the manor, and it was a big manor, with two stories and a large kitchen, with an equally large sitting room that had a fireplace and a homely feel about it. They also had a room specifically for potion making, and Regulus decided he was very jealous about that, he would have loved to have a room like that at Grimmauld Place.
The grounds were gorgeous, the view from the garden showed mountains and trees and Regulus thought the sunsets would be amazing, and the stars shining brightly on a clear night. At the back of the garden was a fence that led onto a field. James explained that this was where they played Quidditch and where he was often found practicing. The wards must be very impressive, Regulus thought, as in the distance he could see a lone house on a hill, and then a bit further on, he could see a village.
Once they had finally finished the tour, it was close to lunch time. They had decided to challenge each other to a game of chess. James had claimed he was unbeaten, and Regulus reckoned that he could beat him.
That was what they were doing when Sirius finally made an appearance. Regulus was winning, for now.
"Thanks for waking me up," Sirius said sarcastically, sitting down in an armchair next to the two boys, who were concentrating on the game.
"Welcome," they both said at the same time. James added, "Your move, Reggie."
"I know," Regulus replied, staring at the chessboard, deliberately taking his time.
"Hurry up, you're taking ages," James complained.
"It's like I'm not even here, Mrs P, how long have they been playing?" Sirius asked.
"An hour and… ten minutes," Mrs Potter replied, not looking up from her magazine.
"Check!" Regulus said smugly as he moved the knight. James groaned.
"I've been replaced," Sirius said dramatically.
"No, you haven't," Mrs Potter replied, "Lunch will be ready in about five minutes, boys. Make sure you've finished your game by then. Let's go to the dining room, and you can tell me all about that prank war, Sirius."
James moved his king and grinned, but Regulus moved his queen to take James' king.
"Checkmate!" Regulus announced, and James groaned again.
"Not fair, Sirius distracted me!"
"No, he didn't, you were completely focused on the chessboard, don't lie!" Regulus said, grinning, something he didn't realise he was doing.
"I'm not lying," James mumbled, but he was smiling too.
"Come on, let's join them in the other room, before Sirius starts complaining again," Regulus said, making his facial expression neutral, stopping the grin as they made it to the dining room.
"And they finally join us, so, what's the verdict on who won?" Sirius questioned and Regulus smirked as James answered.
"Regulus won, but only because you distracted me, Sirius," James said and Regulus rolled his eyes.
"Sure, sure," Sirius replied, clearly not believing him one bit.
Once they had had dinner, they decided to play a family game of Monopoly. It was Sirius's idea as a way of punishing Regulus and James for not waking him up. Mrs Potter decided to join in and Mr Potter, who had got home from work in time, got pulled into the activity too.
Four hours later, Regulus, Mrs Potter and James were the last ones standing. Or, more technically, sitting.
"Give me your money, Jamie," Regulus said with a smirk, hand out, ready to bankrupt him.
"I thought I had brought the blue set from you?" James said and Regulus blinked back his confusion. It had been a long night, and he was tired, perhaps that was possible… or was James just saying that to trick him?
"I don't trust you," Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Give me your money," he argued and James smirked.
"No! Sirius! Back me up," James said and Regulus fake-gasped, also turning to look at Sirius.
"No, don't help him, help your brother!" Regulus replied and they got no response, but they did hear a snore. Whether that was from Sirius or Mr Potter, Regulus didn't know.
"He's asleep," James stated the obvious.
"No, really?" Regulus replied sarcastically, and they both heard a heavy sigh from Mrs Potter.
"They're mine, Regulus. Give me all of your money, please and thank you!" she said and Regulus blinked, before reluctantly giving her all of his money.
He sat back and yawned, covering his yawn with his hand.
"Alright, no pressure, Jamie." Regulus said, and James rubbed his hands together, acting all serious.
"Let's do this."
Regulus watched with interest as James rolled six, and as he moved six, James frowned.
"Who's red?"
"That would also be me, thank you for your money, James. Remind me never to allow Sirius to pick the game again," she said. Regulus let out a small laugh; he was beginning to really like Mrs Potter. "Let's all go to bed, and leave the losers on the sofa."
"Yes, ma'am!" Regulus and James said at the same time.
OoO
A few days later and it was Christmas morning. Regulus had been sleeping, expecting to wake up about seven, when he was rudely awoken by two bodies jumping on him.
"Reggie!" James yelled.
"Reg!" Sirius added.
"It's Christmas!" The boys cried together.
"Is it? I thought it was Easter?" Regulus said sarcastically, half asleep. "What time is it?"
"Time for Christmas!" James answered helpfully.
"It's four thirty," Sirius said and Regulus groaned, covering himself in his duvet.
His duvet was yanked away from him, and Regulus pulled a face as the warmth suddenly disappeared.
"Fine, fine. I'm up." Regulus gave up, not even attempting to put up a fight.
"Are your parents even awake at this ungodly hour?" Regulus questioned as he found a grey jumper to wear over his pyjamas, not bothering to get changed as both Sirius and James were in their pyjamas too. James with a burgundy-and-grey striped jumper and Sirius wearing his Gryffindor one.
"Nope, they wake up at five thirty, and not a minute before," James recited and Regulus blinked.
"Then what are we doing up at four thirty?" Regulus asked and he internally groaned when he saw them both smirk as they began to walk down the stairs.
"Planning a prank!" Sirius replied.
"Of course," Regulus muttered. "Great, just great."
Regulus thought the sofa looked particularly comfy and made a beeline for it, collapsing on it. The only things he was missing were a blanket and a book.
He fell asleep and was woken up an hour later by Mrs Potter.
"I should have warned you, James gets like this every year," she said fondly and Regulus shrugged, nice and warm. He looked down to see a red blanket wrapped around him, that hadn't been there before.
"It's okay," he said honestly. "I should warn you he's got a prank planned," Regulus felt like he should add.
"Oh, yes. I made sure I missed his usual prank, I'm just waiting for the surprise one," she explained and Regulus blinked back his surprise. He wasn't sure why he was surprised that she knew all about her son's pranks.
At that moment, James and Sirius joined them, and James moved Regulus's legs so he could sit on the sofa too and placed his legs on his lap. Regulus raised his eyebrows, and James simply grinned at him. Sirius sat in an armchair and Mrs Potter sat down on the other sofa, comfortable silence consumed the room for a few minutes.
They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a surprised yelp. Mrs Potter sighed.
"Darling, I told you to miss that step!" Mrs Potter said loudly and both James and Sirius started laughing.
"Well, I forgot!" Mr Potter replied grumpily as he entered the sitting room with flour all over him.
Regulus felt sorry for him and frowned as James handed his father a towel. "You do this every year, Dad," James said.
"Every year, I hope that my son won't prank me, but every year, I end up being disappointed," Mr Potter replied, sitting next to his wife, and Regulus shook his head in disbelief.
"What order is it going to be this year, James? You're not the youngest anymore," Mrs Potter questioned, and they all looked at James with curiosity in their eyes, while Regulus rubbed his eyes tiredly.
The Christmas tree was quite large, the decoration was somewhat traditional and had the theme of red and silver. There were a handful of presents around the tree, both big and small. Regulus wondered if there was anything for him under the tree. He had gotten his brother, James, Remus, Dirk, Evan and Cissy presents. Along with a card and present for James's parents as a thank you for letting him stay.
"Youngest first, still," James responded and Regulus glanced at him with surprise.
"Are you sure?" Regulus asked, and James nodded.
"That means I'm second, first the worst. Second the best," James said happily and Regulus rolled his eyes and got up, trying to find a present with his name on it.
Eventually, he found one with blue wrapping and sat back on the sofa as he looked at the note.
Reg,
Merry Christmas
And thank you for being you.
Sirius
Regulus opened the present and let a small smile slip past his mask; it was a make-your-own-prank kit.
"Thanks, Siri," he said softly, putting it to one side.
James was next, and he found one for him straight away, it was in green wrapping paper and Regulus fidgeted in his seat. That was the present that he had got James, trust James to pick that one first.
Regulus chewed on his nails, a nervous Muggle-like habit that his Mother often used to curse him for every time as James opened his present. There was a book, and a red-and-blue striped scarf that Regulus had found in one of the shops in Diagon Alley and he had immediately thought of James when he bought it.
"Quidditch Through the Ages, the founder's edition?" James spoke with excitement as he looked at Regulus.
"You'll be surprised with what you can find in Flourish and Blotts," Regulus told him and was very surprised when James hugged him in response.
After a moment, Regulus hugged him back, trying to hide his face in James's shoulder as he hid a smile.
"Thank you, Reggie," James said softly as they let go. Regulus was slightly disappointed that the hug ended so soon, but he didn't let it show.
A round of presents later and Sirius finally found his present, and Regulus smiled at the grin on his brother's face at the record he had received. The record was of a Muggle band called The Beatles, and Regulus knew when he had seen it, that Sirius would love it.
"Thanks, Reg, this is going to annoy the Gryffindors when we get back to Hogwarts," Sirius said with glee and James groaned.
"Reggie! Whenever he gets a new record, he plays it for weeks, every night. How could you?" James asked with a pout and Regulus smiled.
"What can I say, prankster at work," Regulus said with a sly grin, and he got nervous once again when he saw Mrs Potter pick up and open the present and card he had given them.
"Oh, Regulus. You shouldn't have, these wine glasses are gorgeous," Mrs Potter gushed and Regulus tried not to grin at the praise.
"It wasn't any trouble, I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay," Regulus replied shyly.
"Doesn't he have good taste, darling?" Mrs Potter showed the glasses to Mr Potter who nodded, humming, putting on his glasses to see the finer detail.
"Yes, he does. There's no need to thank us."
Regulus received some chocolate from Dirk, a book on Potions from Cissy, and a book on his favourite Quidditch team from Evan.
There was one present left under the tree and an envelope with his name placed neatly on one of the branches of the tree. Regulus went with the present first and looked at the label. It was from James and Regulus couldn't help but smile and wonder what he had got him.
Regulus carefully opened the wrapping paper and blinked in surprise. It was a lovely burgundy plain sweater, and a bracelet fell out of the wrapping and onto the floor. Regulus picked up the bracelet and looked at it carefully, it was grey with a star, and a name, his own name, carved on it.
Regulus put the bracelet on straight away and turned to face James with a smile.
"Thank you, Jamie," he said softly and James nodded and smiled in return.
"Do you like it? I wasn't sure… and the jumper, I know it's red, but I thought it would suit you, and I…" James rambled, and Regulus laughed and gave him a hug.
"I love the jumper and the bracelet, thank you," he said and James hugged him back. He didn't know why that particular rush of warmth washed over him every time James hugged him, but he knew that he was safe in his arms. And he didn't know why that was, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Regulus ended the hug and sat back down on the sofa.
"And there's an envelope left here, with your name on, Reg," Sirius informed him and Regulus frowned and took it from the tree. He didn't recognise the writing, but it was neat and cursive.
He opened it and held his breath.
Regulus,
It has come to my attention that your Mother is threatening to disown both you and Sirius. I'm not going to allow that to happen. I need to meet with you and you alone to discuss the future of the House of Black. You will know when.
Your Grandfather,
Arcturus Black
P.S. Merry Christmas, and well done for being sorted into Ravenclaw, it's about time we had a Black in that house.
Regulus folded the letter and shoved it in his back pocket, trying to control his breathing as best as he could. He used his well-crafted mask to smile at the others present in the room.
"The Malfoys sent their love," Regulus told them and Sirius scoffed.
"They didn't send me their love, that's not fair. I thought I was their favourite," Sirius said with amusement, not suspecting anything. James was looking at Regulus with concern, which Regulus tried to ignore as he picked up one of his new books to have a look at.
There was one thing on his mind.
What does Grandfather want? And why did he want to meet me alone?