Hello Fam :)

Guess who went to watch Dr. Strange and it's too big of a name? The movie was fun and something newer than what Marvel has attempted. Not giving any spoilers here but it's worth a watch. 

Warning: Today we are dealing with Black family dramatics. Very typical. :P

Happy Reading...

Regulus hates James Potter.

He was at the station near the coach where his friends were waiting when his eyes landed on his brothers. Sirius was being loud and obnoxious until Mrs. Potter pulled him into a hug. James rolled his eyes before hugging his mother from her other side. It felt as if Sirius belonged there with the Potters.

Regulus hates James Potter.

XXX

Ever since he had boarded the train, the only question he was asked was about Sirius finally running away. That Sirius was a coward to run away. Some of them even congratulated him for getting rid of the blood traitor until Regulus glared at them with his well-practiced Black glare and they left him alone after that.

When they reached Hogwarts, Regulus avoided getting anywhere near the marauders but Sirius was loud enough for all of them when he announced his presence to the Great Hall. Many of the students had smiled and clapped at his entrance and some of the first years had an awed look on their faces as they saw the marauder. Regulus rolled his eyes. They wouldn't know what an idiot every marauder was until they would be one of the victims of their pranks. Especially James Potter because James Potter was a menace.

Regulus hates James Potter.

After the sorting, Professor Dumbledore gave some of the regular instructions and introduced their new DADA teacher. He didn't understand why Dumbledore couldn't teach defence on his own. This way, they wouldn't have to recruit any DADA teacher and the headmaster could teach them defence. It's not like people need a different kinds of defence lessons with the war and it would save them from tolerating different DADA teachers. Guess, he wouldn't know if they could deceive Voldemort's curse on DADA position like that because Gryffindors don't use their brains and Dumbledore was a Gryffindor which would explain why James Potter was the Quidditch captain this year for the Gryffindor. He hated that he had to listen to the name of James Potter more because of his captaincy. He wished he could subtly murder James Potter by throwing a giant bludger towards his big head. But as a seeker, he only had control over the snitch.

Regulus hates James Potter.

At the Gryffindor table, Sirius was elaborately explaining something to the people around him, abandoning food for his not-so-legendary storytelling skills. He saw James Potter silently stuffing food into Sirius's mouth and rubbing his back when Sirius choked on the food mid-sentence. He saw how James Potter abandoned everything, forced Sirius to look into his eyes, asking him to breath and making him drink water as if Sirius were a baby. Sirius wasn't a baby. When Sirius got his breath back, he grinned at James and kissed the boy on his cheek. Instead of scoffing like any boy, James Potter rolled his eyes and ruffled Sirius's precious hair which he wouldn't let anyone touch. Apart from that, he saw the fondness and love in James's eyes when he did that.

When Sirius knocked a couple of glasses while standing up, James was quick enough to upright them and vanish the mess with a scourgify. When Sirius almost tripped, James's hand was instantly around his waist, steadying him. When a bunch of Slytherins glared at Sirius, James stood up in between Sirius and them as a shield without bothering to even look at them.

It felt like James was always around Sirius and his hand was always hovering near Sirius to keep the boy safe, be it as big as the Slytherins or as small as keeping him from stumbling on his own feet because of his inability to focus on one single thing.

Regulus hates James Potter.

XXX

James was worried. Sirius was distracting everyone from looking at him for too long by being loud and obnoxious. James loved even his obnoxious self but using it as a distraction was what worried him more. He had known him ever since they were four. If there was anyone who knew Sirius more than himself was James. He prided himself because of this fact since his family wouldn't bother to try to understand him. Hence, he tried to pick up the clues, and signs about what was bothering him.

Their sleeping arrangements didn't change when Sirius slipped into his bed the first night they returned to Hogwarts. Sometimes, he would stay with one of the girls or guys, mostly Marlene, but then in the middle of the night, he would always return to James. When James asked him about it, Sirius said he didn't feel safe enough to sleep with any of them. James kissed his head and said he didn't need to worry and could come to him anytime.

He talked to Lily about ignoring Sirius causing any disruption. Lily sighed without any comment and then asked him to take care of the boy which James would do it anyway but the thought was sweet. Sirius caused enough distraction in the classes too but when any of the teachers gave him a detention, James thumped his back, faking a high-pitched laugh, making them think it was their combined idea and earning detention himself. Sirius grinning at James for sharing the detention was all he needed.

The most important thing that bothered James was Regulus. Because Sirius loved his brother fiercely. He would often worry about Regulus being hurt in the Black house when Sirius wasn't there to look over him. James thought since Sirius was disowned, he mostly tried to ignore the topic of his little brother but then James would catch him glancing over the Slytherin table subtly, or as subtle as Sirius Black could manage. If James asked him about it, Sirius would shrug and diverted the topic. On the other hand, if James had expected Regulus to ignore Sirius or pass death glares to Sirius, he was surprised when the said death glares were sent towards himself. James didn't know what he had done to offend the younger Black brother but he thought if looks could kill, James would be dead already. He also thought Regulus would just come up with something from his Black library to kill him just by staring at him if James didn't do anything about the situation.

XXX

Reg, no.

James was startled awake and lit his wand. Sirius has sneaked beside him after he had slept and going by his repeated mutterings, he might be having a nightmare involving the little Black. James cast a silencing charm so as not to wake the others up and ran his hands through Sirius's hair. "Siri, baby, Reg's fine", he muttered in Sirius's ear.

After some time, he calmed down and drifted to sleep again. James sighed. Looks like he has to deal with Regulus earlier than he had expected.

When he woke up in the morning, Sirius was still asleep. There was a frown on his head. James frowned. Sirius shouldn't be frowning even in his sleep. He checked the time by casting quick tempus and realized they should be waking up already if they have to get to class before shaking Sirius lightly to wake him up. Sirius shifted his head to James's lap and muttered he would wake up in a minute.

James smiled and scratched the boy's scalp lightly. Sometimes, Sirius and Padfoot were more alike than they realized. "Hey, Siri. Wake up. We will be late otherwise. It's Minnie's class."

"We could miss breakfast", he suggested, sleepily.

James chuckled. "Nope. Not missing breakfast. You would fall sick. Wake up." Sirius groaned and sat up but then he rested his head on James's shoulder making the other boy laugh. "That's not what I meant when I asked you to wake up."

Sirius just hummed without any reply.

James poked him in his stomach. "Hey, do you remember what your nightmare was last night?"

The boy perked up similar to Padfoot but then shrugged. "I don't remember, Jay. I think it's like always. Mother, dark mark, Yaxley. Maybe Reg too. It's all hazy."

James nodded. Talking to Reg soon was even late. He needed to work on his plan starting from today.

XXX

Regulus avoided the marauders and avoided everyone who was friends with the marauders until Lily Evans cornered him in the library one day. "Hey, Regulus. What are you studying?", she asked casually, while searching for her book.

He frowned. "Defence", he said and closed his book, weighing his options if he should search for a different place or just go to his dorm.

"So, it's how it would be between us? Just because Sirius ran away from home, we would stop being friends, yeah", she asked, straight to the point.

Regulus halted in his actions before thinking it through as the redhead sat beside him, giving him time. He knew he wasn't perfect. His thinking and morals were skewed, thanks to his family and their ideals, but Lily was someone who never judged him for being wrong or different from her. Instead, she helped him think giving logic and often stopped him from thinking stupid. Was it worth it to be her friend even though he had decided to avoid the marauders? Damn well, she is. Lily Evans was worth everything. Hence, when he sighed and opened his book, letting her know his decision, she pulled out muggle chocolate and passed it over to him. Yes, Lily Evans was worth everything.

XXX

Regulus hates James Potter.

The boy had left him alone after sorting in Slytherin in his first year except when he absolutely had to talk to him until now. Right now, after his study session with Lily when he was on his way back to his dorm room, James had cornered him in a secluded corridor. He tried to walk past the marauder but James was blocking his path. Giving up, he raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Potter?"

"Talk to Sirius. Sort your differences with him."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I don't care, okay? And I hate you", he said without any context and it felt wonderful to say it aloud after repeating it in his head for so many days.

James rolled his eyes identical to him. Sirius would say he had learned rolling his eyes from James but James Potter didn't have the patent for it. "I don't care if you hate me, Reg. All I care about is, that Sirius is having nightmares and I want him to calm down."

It was always Sirius. He knew. But Regulus couldn't help Sirius from his nightmares. James was capable enough to calm the boy down. Also, Regulus didn't want to talk to Sirius after he had left him all alone with their family. "You stole my brother from me, Potter. You keep him and his nightmares at bay. Anyway, you are really good at being his guard dog."

James laughed. "Guard dog? Really? If only you knew", he muttered the last one more to himself. "Is that what all the glaring is about, Reg? Because you think I stole Sirius from you? Didn't you think even once about why he left the place after all these years? He was dying, you prat."

"What?", asked Regulus. Because that was not what mother said when he returned home only to find the house full of Aurors.

"He was dying when he came to my doorstep. Bloodied and bruised. They were forcing the dark mark on his arm and he resisted. He was so terrified that his accidental magic blasted the whole living room. What do you want me to do? Send him back to that hell hole again?"

"The legal age for the dark mark is 17", muttered Regulus. That's the only thing they talk about in pureblood parties.

James snorted. "And do you think Walburga cares about the legal age? Are you serious now, Reggie? And leave about the age. Do you also believe their ideologies?"

Regulus felt suffocated. He was hating the marauders ever since Sirius ran away, believing the words of the one woman who hated Sirius the most. How could he be so stupid? Also, how could a mother utter such a big lie about her own son? He wanted to go to his dorm and talk to someone sensible. James's thoughts were always skewed when it comes to Sirius. He would rather believe Sirius's words than James Potter. For the time being, he put his thoughts aside and composed himself. "What does it matter to you if I believe them or not, Potter? We are purebloods. It shouldn't concern us."

James glared at the boy. "Shouldn't concern us? It matters to muggles and muggleborns, Reg. You are friends with Lily, right? Do you think she deserves to die like that? Because of the family she was born in?"

Of course, Lily. His one true obsession. Regulus didn't understand love but even he does know that if you liked a girl, you wouldn't harass her like that. "Lily is an exception and I wouldn't raise my wand against Lily", he promised, both to himself and James. Because Lily Evans deserved everything. Everything good and happy.

"And there are more exceptional people like Lily, Reg. Do you think they all deserve to die like that? Do you think Voldemort is a God to decides the fate of the people around him? No, Reg, no. Open your eyes", said James, pulling his hair.

Regulus thought they were way off topic. Weren't they discussing about Sirius's nightmares? How did they end up with Voldemort and Lily and muggles? "What do you want, Potter?", he asked again.

James glared at him. "Stop avoiding Sirius and stop believing your parents. He is worried and hurting for you. He doesn't want to leave you there, Reg. But Sirius should at least be alive to even protect you."

What's going on here?

Regulus was so thankful when they were interrupted and even more grateful when it was Lily Evans instead of any teacher, or worse a Slytherin. "Regulus?", she asked.

He turned to the girl. "He is holding me up, Lily. I have nothing to do with him", said Regulus and hoped Lily would let him leave and put a stop to this stupid conversation.

"Potter, go back to your dorm", said Lily.

Instead of listening to the prefect, James Potter glared at him some more. "Reggie, stop being afraid of them. You need an escape at any time? I am there. You know where to find our house. Just come to us instead of involving yourself in their stupidity."

"That's enough, Potter. Let's go", said Lily, grabbing his arm and trying to drag him towards their dorm.

"They burnt him from the family tree", muttered Reg, the words falling from his mouth involuntarily.

James halted in his place. "What?"

"They did", said Regulus. "Sirius is not the heir anymore. They have removed his name." Regulus had never felt so alone in the whole house when mother did that. It's like losing Sirius entirely. He knew for almost a day about Sirius running away and convinced himself that Sirius was just being brash as always, that he would walk into the house and it would all be the same but burning the family tree made the idea more solid. Because neither Uncle Alphard nor Andy came back home after they were burnt on the tree. It was also the first time since his childhood when he cast the complicated privacy wards on his door, hid under his duvet, and cried for the loss of the one person he loved the most in the world.

In front of him, James crossed his arms. "Do you think Sirius cares about that stupid tree? Sirius is a Potter now, Reg. Your family's wealth is not worth enough to lose your mind. Just come to us whenever you can use your brain enough to be sensible."

With that he let Lily drag him and Regulus could only concentrate on one thing. Sirius was a Potter now. He had lost his brother to James Potter.

Did he say how much he hates James Potter?

XXX

James was fuming as he let Lily drag him towards the Gryffindor tower. He didn't bother to look where he was walking. James wanted to throw a sedative spell at the baby Black, kidnap him and tie him up until he agrees to leave the house. It was his backup plan. At least, he could get the truth to Reg about what happened to Sirius on that day. Looks like, Walburga missed the little detail of mentioning the truth to Regulus. How dare she manipulate Regulus like that? Before a completely different backup plan of casting the killing curse on the Blacks could form in his mind, Lily pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What does that mean? Burning from the family tree?", she asked.

James rolled his eyes. "It's the typical Black madness. They have a room, the walls are covered by a tree. They call it a family tapestry. Every family member's name is there and those who defy them, they will be burnt. They aren't considered a family anymore. Sirius's uncle Alphard was burnt when he refused to take the mark and left. Andy was burnt when she married Ted, a muggleborn. Now, Sirius."

"That's creepy", muttered Lily.

James snorted. "Tell me about it. I found out when I was nine. They don't realize their stupid tree can't actually hold the truth. There is a book called 'Nature's nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy'. It contains all the names of the noble wizarding families and from where they are descended. They can't burn the names in the book."

"Can I see the book, please?"

The complete absurdity of the question in Lily's tone contrasting with the murder theory he was going through inside his mind made him laugh. "The book is sacred. Mom wouldn't send it to Hogwarts. Whenever you are coming again to my house, I would show you. Also, I think we could also know where the pureblood maniac Voldemort is descended from. I think the war could be started from there", he muttered.

Regulus hates James Potter because Sirius left him for James. Yeah, Regulus could always say this to Sirius and talk to James again but hey, if there is drama, why would he choose the simple path of talking and having a conversation? Also, Sirius could talk to Regulus and tell him what happened that night and why he was forced to leave home? But guess again what decision he made? Being dramatic about it and ignoring Regulus. Anyway, we have our own angel in disguise who would help these two idiots regain their minds and throw the feelings and conversations on their faces. All hail James Potter. :P

Also, Regulus still didn't hate Sirius. Just James because he trusts James that much with Sirius. Anyone in his place would hate Sirius for leaving him but Regulus is merrily upset with his brother. But yeah, James is the culprit.

Spoiler: Guess, who's coming back to James? I am hyping up. Nothing new. I have already told this in the last chapter.