7A/N: requested on Tumblr.
August 1985
Sirius, Regulus, and Harry were sitting in an ice cream parlor with a direct view of the beach. The large, top-to-floor windows which faced the beach were wide open. Outside, a big neon ice cream cone icon was sputtering in the twilight. The small coastal town was buzzing with tourists strolling along the promenade.
Harry's mint ice cream cone was dripping green dots onto the table.
"It's melting all over your hand, Harry," Regulus said, reaching out and stabilizing Harry's hand so that he held the ice cream cone vertically.
The five-year-old glanced down, a little frown forming on his face.
"Look, you have to do it like so," Sirius said. He licked his own triple-scoop chocolate ice cream cone methodically to catch any drips.
Harry imitated him, however, some of his ice cream slipped off the cone and dropped onto the bench in between himself and Regulus. The boy reached down, attempting to scoop the ice cream up and place it back into his cone.
"Harry, no," Regulus said. His hand twitched to reach for his wand and to simply vanish the mess but he did not want to risk it in the presence of muggles.
"But my ice cream," Harry said, looking up at him with pleading eyes. They were startlingly green in his small, tanned face and his nose was sunburned. Seawater had dried on his skin and formed whitish salt spots on his arms.
"You can have some more after this one if you want to. Okay?"
Harry smiled, nodded. "Okay." He turned back toward his ice cream. "I want to try what Siri has after."
Sirius grinned at that. "Chocolate beats mint, doesn't it?"
"No," Harry said, "yours looks like poop."
Sirius nearly choked on his ice cream. He snorted, covered his mouth with his hand. "But then - why do you want it?"
"It's more."
"Oh. So you want a triple-scoop?"
"Yes."
"That's a lot of ice cream for a little boy," Regulus remarked.
"But I'm a growing boy. You said that when we had dinner."
"You got me there, pup," Regulus said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He turned to Sirius. "I'll get something to clean this up."
The man simply nodded, crunching on a cookie bit, his full attention on preventing the ice cream from getting into his beard.
Regulus walked towards the only employee who was standing behind the long glass case displaying a long rainbow of colorful ice cream buckets. "I need a couple of napkins."
"The little one made a mess?"
"Yeah," Regulus shrugged. "He'll be back for a second scoop later. Sorry for the mess…"
The employee grinned. She picked up the dispenser, placed it on top of the glass case. "Happens all the time, don't worry about it. Take as many as you need. I'll clean the rest up later."
"Thank you. And sorry again." Regulus grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser and was about to return to Sirius and Harry when two men caught his eye. They were sitting in the corner, holding up the menu, yet their eyes were glued upon Harry, their stares unsettlingly intense.
A fuzzy, gnawing feeling of having seen them before settled in the pit of Regulus' stomach. He cast them another unsure glance before he walked back to Sirius and Harry. He placed the napkins on the table.
"There are two guys sitting in the back who won't stop staring at us," he said, keeping his voice low.
"So let them stare," Sirius said. He was looking at the wall, his eyes wandering over three framed pictures in sepia tones showing the town in the sixties. They lingered for a little bit longer on the lowest picture which showed a blond woman in a polka-dot bikini.
"No, I think I know them," Regulus said.
"Well, I hope I don't. I'm in no mood for small talk." Sirius was tapping his feet to the beat of an American pop song coming form the radio.
Regulus doubted that small talk was what the men were after. His hand wandered in the direction of his wand. "Siri," he whispered under his breath, "I think they're Death Eaters."
Sirius froze.
"On your seven," Regulus whispered.
Sirius turned his head slightly, peering over his shoulder. He spotted the two men instantly, they stood out, sitting in the back of the ice cream parlor in their dark wizard robes - a Death Eater's idea of disguise.
"I'll get another ice cream," Sirius said calmly. He placed his half-eaten ice cream cone on the table, ignoring Harry's soft outcry of "nooo, Reggie, look what Siri did! Now he can't eat it anymore!"
"Take Harry," Sirius said to his brother. "Get out of here. Now."
"If you think I'm gonna leave you here -"
"You do as you're told," Sirius hissed. He turned, squared his shoulders, and walked up to the counter, exchanged a few words with the employee, made her laugh. Then, she walked out through the back door presumably leading into the storage room.
Sirius drew his wand, locked that door so she could not return into the main room. He turned toward the men, his wand still out. They had gotten to their feet, their faces grim.
Regulus still stood rooted to the spot. He had to make a decision, and fast.
"Harry, get under the table," he said, keeping his voice low.
Harry blinked up at him.
"Now," Regulus commanded, not caring anymore if they heard him. Behind him, he heard the sound of glass shattering. He whipped his wand from his pocket, whirled around just to see Sirius blocking a spell one of the Death Eaters had fired at him.
Regulus waved his wand, causing the shutters as well as the front door to slam closed. From the corners of his eyes he saw that Harry had obeyed, he had curled up under the table, eyes wide, clutching what was left of his ice cream cone.
He rushed up to his brother, who was expertly blocking the spells fired at him. One spell deflected to the counter, creating cracks in the long glass case. Yet, together, they did pretty well. Regulus took over the blocking and Sirius managed to glue one of the men's feet to the ground, causing him to lose his balance and fall over, twisting his ankle awkwardly in the process.
Regulus fired a spell at the second man, caught him on the shoulder. The man stumbled back, pain flashing across his face. Regulus grinned, glanced at Sirius to see if Sirius had registered it too but Sirius was far too focused on the other Death Eater.
A moment later, a sharp pain hit him in the chest, and Regulus was thrown back against a glass-topped table, which flipped over on its side. The glass burst into a wall of diamonds.
"Reggie!" Harry's voice. Regulus turned his head, saw Harry running towards him, dropping his ice cream cone on the way. It had shattered in his small hand and cold shards of waffle stuck to his skin.
"HARRY GO BACK!" Sirius roared.
A spell flashed past Regulus and he lifted his wand to block it but couldn't stop it from hitting Harry's hand.
Ice-cold fury gripped Sirius. He fired spell after spell with near lightning speed, whipped the Death Eaters off their feet, causing them to crash against the counter. A second later, chairs flew from all corners of the room at the two men. One of them managed to jump to the side while the other was buried under the chairs.
"Incarcerous!" Ropes appeared out of thin air and the man who lay trapped under the chairs was disarmed and bound on the floor, wriggling around in a desperate attempt to get free.
The second attacker stumbled back a few steps until his back hit the wall. His eyes flickered to Harry, who was hiding under the table next to Regulus. He opened his mouth to fire another spell at the child but another spell from Sirius rendered him immobile. A second later, thick ropes wrapped around him as well, tying his legs together and his arms to his side.
Sirius walked up to them, his flip flops thwacking against the soles of his feet. He accioed their wands, and broke them in two pieces, the sound of wood cracking causing a shiver to run down Regulus' spine. Sirius, on the other hand, took satisfaction in their winces. He grabbed the one who had attacked Harry by his hair, forced his head up. "Remember my face," Sirius spoke, his lips curling back from his teeth, "because it's the last one you'll see before you get to enjoy a solitary cell in Azkaban for the rest of your pathetic life."
This was followed by a solid punch to the man's jaw that knocked him out cold.
It was a mess, to say the least. After the Aurors escorted the two Death Eaters to Azkaban, they fixed the damage done to the ice cream parlor and obliviated the employee as well as the muggle police, who had arrived after a few muggles had heard the sound of a fight.
Sirius did not concern himself with any of that. He walked up to Regulus and Harry, who were waiting for him outside of the ice cream parlor next to a street light. He reassured himself that they were both fine. Harry was clinging to Regulus' shirt, hiding his face in it while Regulus patted his back gently.
"It's all right now," Sirius said to the child, "the bad men are gone. They won't come back." He placed his hand on Harry's shoulder but was surprised to feel the child wince slightly and lean away from him.
Harry's breath hitched. "Where did they go?"
"To a prison where only very bad people go."
"Bad like they were naughty?"
"No," Sirius responded softly, "bad like they wanted to hurt others. These two, they wanted to hurt us."
"Is that why you hit the man?" Harry's reddened eyes were wide and there was a tinge of trepidation in them.
"Yes," Sirius said. He glanced down at his right hand, his knuckles were reddened and stung. A lump built in his throat as he realized how violent that must have looked from Harry's perspective. Disarming and immobilizing the men was very different from hitting them. He should not have done it in front of Harry. "I hit him because he hurt you and Reg. And that made me very angry because I love you two a lot and whatever hurts you hurts me too."
"Did it hurt you when my hand hurt?" Harry lifted his hand, inspected his fingers. Regulus had healed him, but the memory of how painful the hex had been still made the child tear up.
"Yes, that hurt me a lot," Sirius said hoarsely.
"And when Reggie was hurt, did that hurt you too?"
"Yes."
Harry turned his head and pressed his face against Regulus' stomach. "It hurt me too."
Regulus rubbed the child's back. Right above him, a bat flitted by, catching one of the moths that came for the light of the street lamp.
"Let's apparate home," Sirius said to Regulus, keeping his voice low so that Harry wouldn't hear him.
Regulus shook his head. "Let's not," he responded quietly, his arms tightening around Harry, gently cupping the child's ears, "look how upset he is. Apparating will only upset him more, you know he hates it. Let's walk."
Sirius did not feel like spending another night in this town. "I'd rather we apparated home and had Kreacher collect our stuff from the apartment later."
Regulus shook his head, realizing that Sirius was ready to cancel the five days they had left of their vacation and return to London right away. "No. We're staying. We're not running away from this. There's nowhere to run to anyway, this could have happened just as well in the midst of Diagon Alley."
Sirius' face twisted and he stabbed a finger at Regulus' chest. "You - you don't get to have a say. I told you to get out of here. I told you to get Harry and -"
"I know," Regulus interrupted him. "But I simply couldn't leave you here."
Sirius glared at him, straightened up slightly in an attempt to stare him down.
"If we handle this calmly," Regulus said under his breath, "he may still be able to enjoy the rest of this vacation. Let's not allow these Death Eaters to ruin it." He did not want to give Harry the impression that going on vacation was a dangerous activity. He and Sirius had to be more watchful, they knew that now, but Harry wasn't supposed to automatically associate leaving Grimmauld Place with danger.
Sirius looked down at Harry. He crouched down next to the child and gently ran his fingers through Harry's hair. This time, Harry did not flinch. "Do I get a hug too, pup?"
Harry glanced at him, his tear-stained cheek pressed against Regulus' belly. He nodded, however, his slim arms remained tight around Regulus.
Sirius did not force the child to let go of Regulus, instead, he embraced them both. He was still kneeling at Harry's height, balancing on the balls of his feet. Regulus shifted awkwardly, not being used to two sets of arms hugging him around his legs.
"Careful or I'll lose my balance here," Regulus said.
"Careful or I'll lose my patience with you," Sirius responded, resting his chin on top of Harry's and glowering up at his brother.
"With me?" Harry asked.
"No, with Reg," Sirius responded kindly. The child's hair was still slightly wet and was smelling of seawater.
Harry tilted his head back to look at his godfather, causing Sirius to lift his head as well. "Is Reggie in trouble?"
"Yes," Sirius affirmed. "He didn't listen."
Regulus snorted, which earned him a non-too-gentle swat to the back of his thigh right where his shorts left off.
"Don't," Harry cried as he registered the surprised ouch from above and realized what it was and who had caused it.
"All right, all right, I won't," Sirius said. "Today I'll make an exception. Right, Regulus?"
"Yeah," Regulus said. He was looking at Sirius with a very strange expression on his face, consisting mostly of amusement but also a tinge of nervousness.
"Next time you listen to me though. And you, Harry, you'll listen to Reg when he tells you to stay under the table. When he tells you to hide, you hide and you don't come out until one of us says that it's okay. Am I clear?"
Harry nodded. He snuffled, raising his left hand to wipe across his eyes. He let go of Regulus' shirt. His hands were still covered in mint ice cream and he left green smears on the white cotton fabric of Regulus' shirt.
"I love you very much, little one," Sirius said. "You know that, don't you?"
Harry nodded. "I know."
"You were so very brave just now," Sirius said, leaning forward to kiss the side of Harry's head. It was warm from the crying he'd done. "I know that this was scary but you're so brave."
Harry blinked. "You were brave too."
A smile formed on Sirius' lips. "Come here, pup. Wanna climb on my back?" He reached his arms back, turned to his side.
Harry let go of Regulus and wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck and his legs around Sirius' waist.
"There," Sirius said, patting Harry's left thigh, smiling at the feeling of Harry on his back, how light he was, how tightly he held onto him, like a baby monkey, the small hands sticky. "I'm at your service, young Sir. Where do you want to go? To the beach, to the docks? Maybe up on the cliffs?"
Harry yawned, rested his head on Sirius' shoulder. "To all of it."
"How about the apartment, hmm? For a nice, cool lemonade?"
"Yes!"
Sirius turned to look at Regulus, who gave him a quick thumbs up.
They followed along the busy promenade. The shimmering lights of the town reflected in the water to their right. The apartment they were renting was located seven minutes from the beach. After about four minutes, Sirius felt Harry's limbs slacken slightly and he realized that the boy had fallen asleep. Regulus had noticed it too, walking quietly next to Sirius.
"Are you still mad?"
That question - a child's question, coming out of the mouth of his brother, all grown up. "Mad, no."
"But?"
"You get your priorities straight before I do it for you, little brother," Sirius spoke quietly, his tone light as he was careful not to disturb the sleeping child on his back.
A nervous laugh. "Look, I'm sorry, but you can't expect me to abandon you in a fight. I don't care how you like it."
Sirius shook his head slightly, repositioning Harry higher on his hip. His hair was falling into his face, darkening it so that his eyes looked almost like a reflection of the charcoal night sky. "You can count yourself lucky that you're an adult, mister."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that if you were a couple of years younger, you wouldn't be sitting comfortably for a week."
Regulus' lips thinned. "Brilliant solution, truly. That really would have taught me not to aid my brother." He scoffed. "And you're telling me to get my priorities straight, Merlin."
Sirius was silent as they walked up the steps to the apartment they had rented for the two weeks they were staying in this town. He waited as Regulus opened the door, the keys jingling in his hand.
"I'll put Harry to bed," Sirius said softly as he entered the small, two-bedroom apartment, the limp weight of the sleeping child on his back, Harry's arms and legs dangling free and his cheek resting on Sirius' shoulder. On the previous nights, Regulus had shared a room with Harry while Sirius had taken the other bedroom. Regulus had a feeling that, tonight, they were both going to sleep in Harry's room, seeking the comfort that the child's presence provided.
Regulus went into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of tap water, added a handful of ice cubes from the muggle freezer before holding the glass up against his forehead. Suddenly, he felt incredibly shaky as the full realization of how lucky they had been finally hit him. They had almost gotten to Harry. His Harry.
Sirius stuck his head into the kitchen. He pointed at the windows. "Wards," he said. His voice sounded strained as if he had been running. "Yours are stronger." He rolled his shoulders and pulled his elbows back to stretch.
Regulus set the glass of water down, produced his wand. He cast wards on the windows as well as the front door, all under the watchful eyes of Sirius. "You wouldn't leave me either if our roles had been reversed," he said when he was finished, turning around and pocketing his wand before looking Sirius in the eye. "But you're right, I should have apparated him home and then returned. I'm sorry that I didn't."
Sirius crossed his arms, leaned against the kitchen door, giving his brother a long, hard stare.
"What?" Regulus said.
"You're impossible."
Regulus forced a grin. "An impossibly good fighter you mean?"
"Careful or I will smack you."
"You won't."
"No," Sirius said after a short pause, "I won't. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be deserved."
Regulus squared his shoulders, felt his shirt stick to his back. "You're not my parent anymore."
Sirius' face twitched slightly and his eyes dropped to the floor. "But we're both Harry's parents now. You have to understand that this means that everything else is less important."
"I do. That's why I apologized for not apparating Harry home because that's what I should have done. But Sirius," Regulus said, causing Sirius to look up once more, "you can't prevent me from coming back."
