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It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
A fact that Regulus Black knew very well. It was supposed to be good. Lily had promised him it would be good. The magic ink that filled his forearm didn’t matter, they would be a family.
And they were.
James and Lily were a family. They had a son, Harry Regulus Potter.
He was a beautiful boy, with Lily’s eyes and James’s… everything.
But…
He was supposed to be different…
Everything was supposed to be different…
He was supposed to have black hair and curls, not brown hair and waves. He was supposed to be raised alongside a boy with platinum blonde hair and a love for ferrets, and a girl with the same hair but a love for the mysterious.
Yes, he had Uncle Moony, Uncle Padfoot, and Uncle Wormy. But he was supposed to also have Uncle Bat and Uncle Rosey.
Yes, he had Aunt Mary and Auntie Marlene. But he was also supposed to have Aunt Panda and Auntie Cas.
Yes, he was supposed to be raised around the muggle world and Quidditch, but he was also supposed to be raised around new and exciting potions.
Yes, Lily will dread the day she will sit Harry down with a glass of wine and tell him about the sister who never loved her. But Regulus was supposed to dread the day he would sit Harry down with a shot of whiskey and tell him about the parents who never loved him.
However, as Regulus looked down through the clouds on Harry’s first birthday, he realized nothing would ever work out the way it was supposed to. He could only hope that one day James and Lily would sit Harry down with that shot of whiskey and tell their baby that he was supposed to be their baby.
Regulus had no idea that his loves, his James and his Lily, would never get that chance.