KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU ⇒ jegulus one shots

YOU MISSED MY HEART

James trudges towards the familiar, dull, gravestone. He ruffles his hair slightly, threading his fingers through it lightly. He stares at the head stone before him, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Our son turned fifteen today, Regulus. It's his birthday. It is also the first time that Sirius has called him by your name," James says quietly. "He didn't mean to. He...it slipped out. He...Sirius called Theo Regulus,"

"I...I think it's because Theo is really starting to become your double. He's taller than Sirius now, just like you had been," James explains. "We all just froze. There was nothing else to do other than stare at one another. Then...and then Theo quietly asked why uncle Pads had started to cry,"

James shakes his head. The wind echoes softly with it's cool breeze. "Sirius and Remus left soon after that. Theo went to his room and didn't come back downstairs until dinner. I...I didn't know what to tell him why he asked what about him made uncle Pads so upset," James breathes.

"I told Theo that it isn't him. It's that he looks just like you did when you were his age. It...I'm never going to tell Theo this, but sometimes it still hurts a lot to see how much he resembles you,"

Sighing, James crouches to sit at the edge of the grave. "Usually, Theo comes with me to visit you, but he had quite a lot of potions homework. Unfortunately, poor kid didn't get your talent with potions and needs quite a lot of extra help from aunt Lil,"

James pauses. "He asks about you a lot, y'know. He...he's a great kid, he really is," He says, a small smile forming upon his lips. "He starts seeing this Hufflepuff girl a year younger than him. It took awhile to get used to. I didn't want to see him grow up, but...but I'm grateful that I get to. I would've given the world to have let you see him grow up,"

"Theo's a Ravenclaw. Bit unexpected, I assumed he would've been more likely to end up in Gryffindor like me, or even Slytherin, like you had been," James says.

"Whenever he asks, I tell. Whatever he wants to know about you, I do my best to answer. Sirius and Andromeda are great regarding that sort of stuff. They're able to tell him a lot more than I am sometimes," James admits gently, regretfully.

"I...I wish you were here to see him," James feels himself crack, his voice growing weary. "He...he really does look just like you. It's weird, sometimes, I think about how I'll never see you older than seventeen. Sometimes I wonder if Theo will look like what you should have looked like as he gets older,"

James reaches to pat the headstone. "I've got to head home. I'm going to do my best to make Theo a birthday cake. Wish me luck, won't you?" He chuckles softly. He rises to his feet.

James looks down at the headstone, reading the name once more. He shakes his head. "I'll see you again, someday, Regulus. We'll have a lot to talk about," James hums gently. "Love you,"

And with that, James walks away until the next time.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
over 500 words, just a teeny one shot to close the last one!