𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨-𝙧.𝙖.𝙗

45-promises

HARRY SITS IN REGULUS'S ARMS, floppy hat pulled over his head to protect him from the sun. His eyes are wide as he watches Regulus pluck a strand of grass, and turns it into a small, yellow flower. Harry is in awe as its petals drift towards his face, tickling his cheeks and making him smile wildly, chubby cheeks bunched up. Jo watches, kneeled in her mother's garden, and smiles.

"He's good with Harry," James says, from his spot beside Jo, as he helps her harvest the garden, his basket full of radishes, chard, carrots. He gives Jo a smile. "Makes you want one of your own, doesn't it?"

Jo rolls her eyes, but her smile stays. Regulus is good with Harry. He looks down at the infant with the same, warm, loving eyes that everyone does, but Harry seems particularly taken with him. When Jo tries to take Harry out of his arms and hold him herself, he screams and wails until he's back with Regulus once more. It drives Jo insane.

James brings Harry around a lot, ever since Dumblebore cast the Fidelius Charm. It seems to be the only place he considers safe enough to bring his child, not that Jo's complaining. Things are always better when they have Harry to dot on. It's easy to forget about everything that's going wrong when Harry is smiling up at them like that.

And Jo loves Harry, loves how much Regulus loves him, but the last thing she's thinking about is one of her own. Jo doesn't know if she can handle it. Not now, not ever. A little nephew is lovely, a son is a heavy responsibility. She doesn't have the heart to consider if Regulus feels the same or not. She changes the subject.

"Have you spoken with Sirius at all recently?" she asks, her hands tugging at a particularly stubborn carrot.

James sighs, eyes squinted in the light of the sun. "Yeah, I've spoken with him, if that's what you want to call it," he quips. "Safe to say I'm not exactly pleased with him, at the moment."

Jo scoffs. "Yeah, figure he's saying the same about me right about now."

"Josie, it doesn't matter how upset he was with you, he shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I don't care if you snapped his wand and spit in his face," he tells her, and Jo frowns. She drops to the ground and examines the dirt that covers her hands. "And to be honest with you Josie, I don't think he has much of a right to be mad at you in the first place."

Her stomach churns a bit. "I lied to him," she reminds her brother.

James shakes his head. "I'm not sure how much Regulus has told you about his family and what it was like there. But it's complicated, not the kind of thing you'd want to get in the middle of. Sirius should just be happy he's safe now, and that's because of you."

"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" Jo asks, not looking at her brother.

He scoffs. "Forgive you? He owes you several apologies, there's nothing to forgive you for," James scoffs, and then pauses and for a moment. He looks back over to where Regulus bounces Harry gently in his arms. "Do you think you'll ever forgive him?"

"What choice would I have?" she answers with a shake of her head, brushing her hands together to get the dirt off.

"You always have a choice," James tells her. "You don't owe anyone forgiveness, Josie. I feel like your whole life has been someone telling you to apologize or accept an apology and you just, you don't have to do it, Josie. Especially not when someone speaks to you the way Sirius did." He shakes his head. "Lucky I didn't let your little boyfriend there clobber him."

Little boyfriend. Heat rises to Jo's cheeks. "He's got a name, you know," she grumbles. "You don't have to pretend you don't like him anymore either. He told me all about how grateful you are for him."