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James
It was horrifying; what the three of them were about to do. James didn’t have to come, Regulus had said as much a dozen times, but he wanted to. He needed to. He’d chosen this life, chosen Regulus and Harry. He wouldn’t be ignorant to the horror of reality; even if he wished it were fantasy.
Regulus rarely spoke about his experiences with hunting. It was hard for James to wrap his head around it without feeling nauseous; without feeling guilt. Hunting people... it wasn’t right... it went against every instinct that made James, James... But to Regulus? It was normal, natural. Same for Sirius. And same for little Harry.
“Their memory is erased and it’s like the whole thing never happened... the human doesn’t suffer in the moment or in memory...”
James tried to believe that. He’d even asked Regulus to do it to him once, just to see what it felt like. Regulus had of course been right, it really did feel like nothing had happened. But James knew it had happened, and that left a deep hole in his chest.
Still... this wasn’t about him. It was about Harry. He was two and a half now and bigger than ever. His fangs had grown in and he was asking James for his wrist almost weekly. Harry needed more blood, more than what James could steal, and more than James could offer. Regulus fed exclusively from his neck, his body couldn’t handle feeding Harry too.
“Are you sure?” Regulus asked again, squeezing James’ hand, a gentle, pleading look in his eyes. Regulus wanted him to go, but James had made his decision.
He took a breath in, then let it out. Clouds leaving his mouth and disappearing into the cold night air.
“I’m sure,” he smiled, albeit weakly. James glanced down at Harry, who was just about vibrating; staring hungrily across the road at crowds of people. Humans. “I just... I need to know... at least once...”
“I’ll be fine,” he said more firmly, squeezing Regulus hand before pulling it back to himself. “I’ll wait with Harry in that spot you showed me.”
“Alright...”
Regulus leaned forward and planted a soft kiss to James’ cheek, before turning his attention to Harry, going over the plan one last time. James chose not to listen, instead focusing on the light breeze sweeping through the undergrowth. The rustling leaves. The creaks of trees.
He closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath.
He let it out.
“Daddy, we go now! To the spot!”
James opened his eyes. Regulus was gone. Just sweet little Harry left staring up at him with an excited grin. His stomach twisted.
Here we go...
“Alright buddy,” James swallowed back the lump in his throat. “Lead the way.”
Harry didn’t need telling twice. He grabbed James’ hand and started marching along, dragging James behind him. James followed without a word. He blinked, and they were there. Harry was pacing now, his face lit up as he kept peeking through the bushes Regulus would soon come through.
“Daddy, will my human be scared?”
James tightened his fists. My human.
“I-I’m not sure bud...”
Harry hummed, spinning in a circle completely unbothered while James tried his best to control his breathing.
“Papa says scared humans taste really yummy. I want my human very scared.”
James swallowed. My human.
“Ok, Harry...”
Harry went back to peeking through the bushes. James squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to cry. This was so wrong. A human wasn’t meant to see this. Humans weren’t meant to help other humans get hunted by predators. It felt like his insides were outside. His skin was on fire. His mind was fighting his heart.
I don’t care... I’m seeing this through...
The two of them waited. And waited. And waited. The breeze sang with the leaves. The trees swayed to their song. It would have been peaceful on any other night. But tonight, it felt like the deceitful start to a horror film.
“Papa’s coming!” Harry whisper squealed. “I can hear!”
James strained to listen out for whatever Harry had heard. It took him an extra minute before he could make it out, but sure enough it was there. The faint but unmistakable muffle of Regulus’ voice. He was speaking with another man, laughing, probably flirting.
His stomach tightened at the thought. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad if he watched his husband flirt with the stranger first?
James sighed. It wouldn’t…
He’d became a doctor to heal. He hated watching people suffer, especially when he could do something to stop it.
And now I’m about to stand by and watch my son and husband attack someone…
James pushed down the uncomfortable twist of guilt in his stomach. The irony wasn’t lost on him.
“Daddy! Daddy! He’s coming! I smell the human!”
Harry jumped up and down, a smile on his face, tugging on James’ arm. The anticipation alone was already turning his green eyes red; dark cracks splitting down his cheeks. Even his fangs were starting to descend. James closed his eyes; inhaling slowly and trying to fight the-
“We’re almost there... be patient darling...”
“Oh you have no idea what you’re doing to me...”
James clenched his teeth; balling his hands up into fists and digging his nails into the flesh. No. No. No. God, he had really underestimated how horrible this feeling would be.
“Please... I need you to kiss me again...”
James dug his nails in deeper. He clenched his jaw tighter. He kept his eyes glued shut.
“And what’s the magic word?”
“Please... sir...”
“Good boy...”
There were a few more footsteps and crunching leaves... then a scream. It was bloodcurdling and desperate, but not loud, very muffled. He knew why, and yet curiosity got the better of him. He forced his eyes open. His stomach lurched. He gagged.
The man screamed again, but most of the sound was caught by the hand on his mouth. Regulus’ hand.
The man was kneeling, thrashing left and right, but barely moving an inch. Regulus was holding him in place with his other hand, with seemingly no effort. His face was as calm and relaxed as always, as if he was simply folding the laundry. In contrast, the man looked beyond panicked. His eyes stretched out in horror, tears already welling up as his whole body trembled.
He had his hands on Regulus’ wrists, desperately trying to pry him off — to no avail. He was blond and seemed tall, perhaps as tall as James, and built like him too. Not that his muscles was doing anything to help him. Had this man assumed he’d be safe with a lithe, petite person like Regulus?
James grimaced as the man screamed again, finally spotting James and Harry. He reached out and wailed, clamping his hands together, begging. Tears were falling now. Streaming down his cheeks and wetting Regulus’ hands.
“Papa!” Harry giggled, darting toward the struggling human.
The man screamed the moment he saw Harry’s face. It was guttural. He was terrified. He thrashed and twisted and pushed, desperate to get away. He did not.
“He smells so yummy...” Harry breathed, licking his lips as the man screamed once again.
Regulus smiled softly, the same way he had when Harry babbled his first word. The same warm, loving smile he’d worn at their wedding.
James’ own eyes prickled, the scene becoming a little blurry, forcing him to blink back his tears. His head swayed out of sync with his body. He wanted to shut his eyes. He needed to keep them open. James was vaguely aware that his hands were shaking, that despite the freezing temperature he was sweating. But he paid them no attention, his focus locked on Harry and Regulus, and the petrified man cowering between them.
“HHMEEELHHHPP HHMMEE! MMMLLEEHHAASSEE!”
Help me... please...
The man was looking right at James. Staring straight through his soul.
James swallowed. Cursing himself. His discomfort was likely written all over his face as Regulus always claimed his emotions were. He was terrible at hiding his feelings. Great when in love. Awful when doing something wrong... and this was wrong... so wrong...
“MMMLLEEHHAASSEE! MMMLLEEHHAASSEE! HHMEEELHHHPP”
Please... please... help...
James gagged and smacked a hand over his mouth just as bile burnt its way up his throat. He forced it back even as his stomach roiled and lurched again.
“MMMLLEEHHAASSEE! HHMEEELHHHPP HHMMEE!”
Please... help me...
The man still had his eyes trained on James; his gaze digging guilty, poisonous holes in his heart. James wanted so badly to rush forwards and put a stop to the attack. To beg his sweet, adoring husband to let him go. To plead with his little baby boy to hold back.
But he didn’t.
“Are you ready, Harry?” Regulus asked softly, cracking the man's neck to the side and arching his neck out to Harry. Even James could see the pulsating artery beneath his flesh. “Just like we practiced...”
Harry nodded. James could no longer see his face from where he stood. He was somewhat glad for that.
“Whenever you’re ready sweetheart...”
Humans were not meant to witness this.
Harry leapt forward. Regulus held the man steady. A single tear rolled down James’ cheek.
There was a sickening squelch as Harry's fangs pierced the skin and he latched onto his neck. The man shrieked so sharply not even Regulus’ hand could completely contain it. It sliced through James’ ears and burrowed into his memories, playing on loop as the man convulsed beneath Harry’s tiny grip.
“Slowly, Harry. Savour it,” Regulus reminded him softly over the man's violent screams. He bent over the man fighting for his life and pressed a kiss to the top of Harry's head.“You’re doing such a good job, I love you.”
The man's eyes fluttered closed, but his face remained contorted in terror. His thrashing weakened and he collapsed against Regulus. His screams gave way to whimpers as tears streamed down his puffy cheeks.
The venom was taking hold...
James could almost see the colour returning to Harry’s skin; his pale, hungry complexion becoming rosier with every sip of stolen life. His grip tightening as his strength grew; the addictive bloodlust pulling him further and further under.
“Harry? It's time to stop now, buddy.”
But Harry didn’t stop. He pressed on. Gulping down blood so loudly James could hear it.
“Harry? I’m going to have to stop you if you can’t pull yourself away.”
If Harry heard his Papa’s words, there was no indication of comprehension, and Regulus wasted no time in acting. James watched as Regulus removed the hand over the man's mouth and gripped Harry on the back of the neck. Then yanked.
Schlllrrp!
James gagged, retching and choking as Harry's fangs tore free of the man's neck. Bloody, shredded flesh ripped off the man's neck and blood splattered across everything in its vicinity.
“AGGRRHH!” Harry growled, struggling against Regulus, kicking and reaching back for the man. But the aggression only lasted a moment before Harry seemed to come back to himself and Regulus gently dropped him to the grass. Harry collapsed like his legs were jelly, yawning and sleepily rubbing his eyes. Licking his lips dry of all the dinner his tongue could reach. His little cheeks and tiny shirt were absolutely drenched with blood.
His fangs were still down, but the shadows on his face had receded. He looked more like the innocent victim of a violent crime than the perpetrator.
It was only now that James realised he’d dropped to his knees. That his whole body was trembling. That his breathing was both shallow and deep. The grass was cold on his skin. The air was just as chilling. He hadn’t realised how deaf he’d gone to the world around him until the wind whistled in his ears.The eerie peace of the undergrowth punching James back to reality.
Regulus wasted no time in biting his wrist and pressing it to the man's mouth. Instinctively he drank, and James watched in real time as the flesh of the wound knitted back together. As a doctor, he was fascinated. As a human, he was disgusted. The later feeling was stronger.
James at last found the strength to look away. He trained his graze on blades of grass, tracing their delicate shapes. He was terrified to blink, fearing the images that would appear on the back of his eyelids.
There were footsteps. Crunching leaves underfoot, murmured words and confused chuckles. James kept his eyes on the grass. The green field, littered with dandelions, small sticks and broken bark. He could still hear the screaming, the begging, the shrieking. He could still hear Harry's fangs piercing the man's skin, and the sickening squelch of those same fangs being ripped out of the flesh.
“Are you alright?”
James let his eyes float upwards through fog, settling on Regulus. The man was gone. When had that happened? Harry was snuggled up and sleeping in Regulus’ arms. How long had they been waiting?
James shook his head to clear out some of the clouds, then nodded. He blinked and found himself on his feet. He blinked again and found him face to face with Regulus.
“I love you...” was all he could muster.
An arm curled around James’ waist.
“I love you too.”