Runaway love | Jegulus

Chapter 1

Hello this is my 2nd fanfic and I didn't complete my first one so I hope this one goes better. Isla

Sirius Black had been living with the Potters for nearly two years. Euphemia and Fleamont Potter had taken him in and loved him as though he was their own. James Potter had thought of Sirius as a brother since their first year at Hogwarts so he didn't really see any problem with having him around at home too. That was the Potter way, always taking in strays and fixing broken people. Sirius had truly been broken when he'd moved in with them, his whole life he'd been beaten into submission by his parents and when he finally decided enough was enough, he knew he had nowhere to go but to James.

The house wasn't as big as Grimmauld Place but to Sirius it was perfect. Every room was filled with sunlight, music, clutter, books, posters, photographs, furniture to mess about on, everything a child like Sirius could want but had never had. Everyday of his first month in the Potter's home Sirius had jumped out of bed at the break of daylight and gone into every possible room and opened the curtains. He loved the way the light flooded into the room and coated everything in a blanket of gold. None of the Potter's ever mentioned this strange activity, nor did they seem bothered by it, he wondered if maybe they just assumed the house elf was doing it. Sirius only stopped his morning activity when he was properly settled in and used to the feeling of warmth in a house. He had learned that he didn't need to rush to fill a room with light because he knew that it would be there eventually, something he'd never known before.

His childhood in the Noble House of Black had not allowed him the privilege of expecting happiness and light. His life had been filled with darkness, the walls of his childhood painted black, the curtains drawn, the rooms bare. He tried not to dwell on his childhood and on what he'd had to endure but he couldn't help it. He could push everything he'd known from his mind but one thing always kept him connected to it... Regulus.

A year younger than Sirius, Regulus Arcturus Black, currently 15 years old, was still trapped in that house. Sirius's heart ached when he thought of Reggie and how he'd had to leave him behind. Regulus was a Slytherin, he was afraid of their parents to the extent that he would do anything they said but he was clever. This had been all the reassurance Sirius needed the night he'd left Grimmauld Place for good. He knew Regulus would be crushed, what little happiness they had in their childhoods had been created by each other, but he had to go and he couldn't take the younger boy with him. When Sirius returned to Hogwarts for the first time since leaving home he'd hoped to speak with Regulus and make sure he was okay, but Regulus had ignored him completely. He walked past Sirius as though he wasn't there. It crushed Sirius but he knew he was to blame for it, he just hoped that one day Regulus would forgive him.

"Get up you lazy git" James Potter was thumping Sirius repeatedly with his pillow, trying to wake him from his favourite activity, sleeping.

"Go away Potter!" Sirius groaned, shielding his face from James's attack with his arms.

"It's nearly midday, come on I want to play quidditch. It's summer, the sun is shining, the air is fresh and the world is happy and awake and you should be too!" James cooed at Sirius, poking him violently. Sirius still didn't move. James knew what he had to say.

"Mums making french toast..." James said very sweetly. Sirius leapt out of the bed, knocking James over as he ran out of the room and down the stairs barefoot and in his pyjamas.

He swung through the kitchen door, bursting with excitement but found it empty. His face dropped. He marched straight back out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom. When he re-entered James was clutching at his sides from laughing so hard. Sirius dove at him and the two boys wrestled on the floor before Sirius managed to pin James down.

"You bastard! Never lie about french toast again!" He shouted in James's face.

"I did what I had to do!" James shouted back, very dramatically before shoving Sirius off of him. The two boys laughed at each other and Sirius offered James a hand, pulling him to his feet with him.

"Well seeing as you're awake now, get dressed! Let's go flying." James patted Sirius on the back and left to go assemble the makeshift quidditch pitch.

Sirius chuckled to himself when he thought about his friend's sneaky tricks. He moved around the room, collecting random pieces of clothing off the floor and shoving them on haphazardly. He pulled his hair up and into a bun so it wouldn't dangle in his eyes whilst he flew, he knew only too well the dangers of playing quidditch with your hair down and had the scars to prove it.

As he swept his quidditch jersey off the dresser he knocked a wooden box to the floor. It's contents spilled out. Sirius swept up the bits and pieces, not realising or remembering what it was. As he went to place the bits back into the box he saw a Polaroid sitting in the bottom of it. He pulled it out and felt his chest tighten as he realised what this was. It was all he'd brought with him from the old house, all he'd been able to carry, in that terrifying moment these had been the only important things to him. He stared down at the collection, none of it had been touched in years and he didn't care about any of it much anyway, but he couldn't let go of the Polaroid. It was a photo of him and Regulus.

In the photo Sirius had his arm around Regulus's shoulders and was hugging him tightly to his side. The other boy had all the same features as Sirius, the high cheekbones, dark hair and piercing eyes. Both boys were smiling widely and as the photo started to move they were laughing too, as Sirius poked a finger in his younger brothers ear causing him to try and pull away. Sirius could remember that day, they'd gone to Andromeda's house, unbeknownst to their parents who believed they were buying school books from Diagon Alley, and they had a lovely summery day with her. Sirius could never show this photo to his parents, they would not approve of anything about it, being with Andromeda, fooling around publicly, smiling. It was all very improper and that is exactly why Sirius had loved it so much and brought it with him. He felt a stab of guilt for forgetting about it over the past few years and resigned to tucking it into the corner of his mirror, so he could see it whenever he wanted and be reminded of that wonderfully happy day.

Sirius ran downstairs, filled with a new sense of nostalgic happiness and prepared for flying with James. He was just finishing up polishing his broom when they heard a knock at the front door. Sirius ignored this, knowing that he could answer it as this was his home but leaving James to do it anyway. James disappeared off into the house to see who it was, his perpetually messy hair bouncing with every step he took. 

Sirius finished with his broom and tilted his head back, soaking in the hot, summer sun and felt incredibly lucky. His whole body buzzed with excitement and contentment and he was truly happy. He had never felt more grateful in his life. He was ready to mount his broom and do some practice laps when he heard James calling him from within the house. Though he couldn't see him, Sirius knew something was wrong, James's tone was panicked. He threw his newly polished broom to the floor and ran through the house to find James.

James was standing in front of the open door. The usually confident boy opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, as though trying to find the right words but completely failing.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sirius puffed frantically.

James looked straight at Sirius, his own eyes filled with surprise and stepped to the side revealing a boy stood outside the door. The boy moved his long, black hair out of his face and raised his eyes to meet Sirius's. Sirius's heart stopped for a moment.

"Reggie?"

Words: 1466