Regulus barely slept. He sat up in the living room, buried under what seemed like a thousand blankets, watching Doctor Who on the Potters' telly, a steaming cup of hot chocolate Lily had made for him before going to bed. The flat was so quiet and peaceful and he found himself staring at the ceiling just floating in the safety that seemed to wrap him up.

But of course the morning came and Regulus felt as though he'd only just fallen asleep when there was a flash from the floo of bright green light, which broke through Regulus's sleep with a tremor of fear. Flahes of green light were generally quite terrifying in Regulus's day-to-day life, and a he sat up quickly, nearly falling off the couch in his tangle of blankets.

But it was only the floo.

Sirius and Remus came through the fireplace, Sirius upholding Remus, both looking thoroughly exhausted. He paused when he spotted Regulus staring at them from beneath several layers of comforters and quilts that Lily had supplied. "What're you doing here still?"

"I stayed over," Regulus replied. He used the funny wand that controlled the Potters telly to switch it off and put it down on the table before the couch. The sound of the TARDIS fading out of view silenced as the screen clicked off and the picture faded off the glass.

Sirius hesitated, then helped Remus into a chair by the fireplace, turning about and waving his wand at the floo, bursting it into warm orange flames. "Can I take this?" he asked, turning and latching onto one of the blankets piled a top Regulus, "It looks as though you've a good deal of them."

"Yeah," Regulus nodded.

Sirius tugged the blanket away and turned about, nestling it gently over Remus in the chair before using his wand to flick a cuppa on the table beside him. "There you are, Moony," he said gently, handing the steaming cup to Remus carefully, "Drink, you'll feel better."

Remus smiled at the care Sirius was giving him and wrapped his palms thankfully about the cup so that the heat of it radiated through the ceramic and into his skin. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Regulus hesitated, feeling awkwardly extra in the room at the moment, and kept his eyes diverted downward to give Remus and Sirius as much privacy as he could, picking at a loose string on the quilt that was still wrapped about him.

"So you stayed the night, did you?" Sirius's voice elevated with a new tone as he changed his focus from Remus to Reguuls once again. Regulus looked up. "And I suppose you got to talk to Prongs?"

"I did," Regulus nodded.

Sirius thought for a moment, eyeing his younger brother with a slightly raised eyebrow, appraising him. Finally, after several moments of appraisal, met with Regulus's defiant stare back, Sirius asked, "And has your fucking foot fallen off yet?"

Regulus shook his head. "Not from a lack of your trying to hack it off with the door."

Sirius smirked. "Teach you right for trying to enter a home you weren't invited into."

Regulus shook his head. "If I wanted to enter a home I wasn't invited into, I could do it a lot more easily - and violently - than shoving my foot into the crack."

Sirius's lips twitched. "...than shoving a foot into the crack, ey?"

"Don't be dirty Pads," murmured Remus from behind his cup.

Sirius turned about, eyes glittering with delight. "Oh you caught it, too, did you?"

"Of course I caught it too, I've been hanging about you, haven't I?" Remus looked to Regulus, "Dirties the mind, this one does... Pure filth."

"You were filthy before I ever came into your life, you bloody liar."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"It's the quiet ones you've got to be aware of."

"A were... of?" Remus's lips were now the ones to do the twitching.

Sirius laughed harder than he ought to have done at the pun, and he turned about, throwing himself onto the couch beside his brother. "Share the bloody blankets, you arse," he commanded, grabbing hold on one side of the blanket and tucking himself under it beside Regulus.

Regulus sat still. He felt like someone observing some sort of wild creature that you couldn't make fast movements about without it spooking and running away. He didn't want Sirius to run away. He rather liked this quiet acceptance. Regulus wondered whether the flat wasn't truly a place of miracles. He didn't want to leave... ever.

As though his mind had been read, there came the sounds of James and Lily walking down the hallway. James was loudly singing the Hogwarts theme song as he pranced along, shouting the words in a vague sort of tune.

"OH bloody HELL," Sirius shouted. "I've been trying to get that blasted song out of my head for these past four months and there you go jamming it back in!"

James came about the corner of the hallway. "I'm only trying at getting your brother into the mood!" he sang. "What d'ya say, Reg, ready to head to King's Cross?"

Regulus laughed at the look on Sirius's face. "Yeah I suppose I haven't much choice or else I'll be late for my first day back."

"Wouldn't be the first who was," Sirius said regally, "That honor belongs to us." He waved about the room at Remus and James.

"He says, as though it's something to brag about!" Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Are you hungry, Regulus? You must be, you'll be wanting to eat before you go..." she dashed into the kitchen.

Sirius yelled, "HE ISN'T THE ONLY HUNGRY PERSON HERE LILITH!!!"

"So get off your arse and come help me make breakfast, Sirrus!"

"Sirrus!" Sirius harrumphed, but he struggled out of the quilt, bequeathing the full of it to Regulus once again, and bounded into the kitchen like a hungry dog.

James stepped 'round the couch and sat down, not beneath the blanket as Sirius had done, but still beside Regulus. "So how are you doing there, Rey?" James asked, looking over at the shivering form of Remus Lupin, buried beneath the requisitioned blanket Sirius had tucked him under. "Not too, too Moony, I hope?"

"Not too. Sirius was being a tad dramatic."

"I CAN HEAR YOU, JUST BECAUSE I'M NOT IN THE ROOM DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T BLOODY HEAR YOU!"

Remus replied back, "You're only making my point!"

To this, there came no answer from the kitchen, aside from a burst of giggles from Lily.

James grinned.

Once they'd eaten breakfast, Remus insisted on going to take a nap. He apologized for not accompanying Regulus to King's Cross, and nearly became Sirius's excuse for not going along, too, until Lily announced she would stay to take care of Remus while the other two went to the station. James kissed her and hugged her as they left, and Regulus waved, thanking Lily for everything, then followed Sirius and James out into the streets of East London.

Sirius rushed behind a large dumpster and transformed immediately crossing over the threshold of the flat. Regulus laughed as Sirius ran and jumped about at his feet, playfully snapping his maw at Regulus in what Regulus hoped was a friendly manner. James tapped the bridge of his glasses and a dark tint faded onto them, reminding Regulus of sunglasses. With his hands tucked into his trouser pockets as they walked, Regulus couldn't help but to keep stealing glances at him, thinking how brilliantly, utterly cool James Potter looked with his wild hair and dark black sunglasses.

They took the Underground and Regulus was clearly in awe of it, having never ridden along with muggles that way before. He looked about at the others that crowded the seats around them - mostly men and women in business attire, but some people with wild punk-rock hair and colourful clothes that reminded him of the things that some of the muggleborns - and Sirius - wore about Hogwarts. He wished he was cool enough to pull off wearing his hair in one of the crazy styles that kids were doing. Regulus couldn't even imagine the reaction Walburga would have if he came home with long spikes of green hair coming up from his head. This trail of thought made him think of Maryrose, though, and he quickly gave it up.

At the underground station at Russell Square, James motioned for Regulus to hop off the train and Snuffles only just made it off before the doors closed, having been distracted by some delicious smelling take-out on a bench beside a half-asleep business man. James looked about the platform and pulled Regulus away from the smattering of crowd to a bench down the way a bit as the train rushed by in a flurry of grime-scented heat that ruffled their clothes and hair.

"I was thinking," James explained, "I ought not to accompany you all the way to 9 3/4. Incase -- others -- see us together there. I wish I'd brought the invisibility cloak, but I didn't think of it 'til there was a bloke eyeing us on the train a couple stops back. I don't reckon he's anything to worry about, but... like Moody says, constant vigilance."

Regulus tried to mask the disappointment he felt. "Oh. Right. Yeah, I totally understand of course."

James glanced at the Sirius, who, true to his doggy form, was sniffing about the platform looking for interesting scents. "Nobody, however, would ever recognize Snuffles for what he is. So... I think you ought to go on ahead with Snuffles."

Snuffles looked up suddenly, the fur flapping about his neck and ears as he stared at James in surprise. Regulus half expected the dog to bark out a refusal. Instead, though, Snuffles came closer and sat down beside Regulus's ankle, his ear alert and head cocked slightly.

"What do you think, mate?" James asked.

One bark.

Several people down the platform glanced over and James shushed the dog, laughing. "Well that settles it, then." He took a deep breath and stared at Regulus, putting his hands on the younger lad's shoulders. He stared into Regulus's eyes. "Have a good year at Hogwarts, alright? And really, if you need anything... anything at all... you owl us."

Regulus nodded.

"Thank you for getting the vials of venom back."

"I had to," Regulus said truthfully. "I couldn't relax knowing I'd failed the Order."

James smiled, "You did really well."

"Thanks."

The train pulled up then, a great wheezing, squealing, groaning mass of steel barrelling through the stuffy tunnel and stopping alongside the platform, letting out a hiss as the doors opened. Snuffles looked from James to Regulus and back again, then nudged his head into James's knee. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you lot need to get a move on..." James said, laughing at the dog. He looked at Regulus again. "Be safe, alright?"

"Keep me informed of what's going on in the Order?" Regulus asked.

"I will," James nodded. He patted Regulus's shoulders again, and he remembered his father having done precisely the same thing to him on his very first day to Hogwarts so many years ago, and he felt a twinge in his stomach as he stepped back from Regulus. "Go on then," he said. Then, to Sirius, "I'll wait here for you."

Snuffles barked once.

James waved as Regulus and Sirius climbed aboard the train as the doors hissed closed and they pulled out of Russell Square station.