@regulily-microfic July 13: Time 824 Words

@regulily-microfic • july 13: time • 824 words

cross-posted on ao3

Regulus fiddles with the Lego in his hand, staring fixedly at the half-finished Millennium Falcon on the coffee table, illuminated only by the fairy lights Lily brought with her when she moved in. His eyes droop, anxiety pressing in on the outskirts of his mind and keeping desperately needed sleep away. The ungodly early time blinks at him from the oven display, taunting Regulus from the kitchen.

He wishes he could sleep, he really does. He just can’t stop thinking. So much is happening tomorrow, so many things will change—

“Love?”

Regulus blinks. Lily is standing in the hall entrance, the throw from their bed wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair is sleep-mussed, auburn curls frizzy where they frame her face. She rubs at her eye, suppressing a yawn.

“Did I wake you?” Regulus sets the Lego down with a click against the wood, his voice nearly a whisper. “I’m sorry, you should go back to bed—”

Lily shuffles over to the coffee table, plopping down on the floor next to him and nudging him with her shoulder. “No, shut up. I’m awake now.”

“Lily…”

She ignores him, blinking quickly to rid the sleep from her eyes. “So, what step are we on?”

Regulus sighs in defeat and hands her the pamphlet with the instructions, and they get to work, slowly piecing together the Millennium Falcon shoulder to shoulder like a well-oiled machine.

This isn’t new. They’ve done this many nights, have been doing this for years. It started when he was sixteen. Those first few months after Lily and her parents took him in following his transphobic mother’s disownment, he could barely sleep. More often than not, he’d wake in a cold sweat with tears in his eyes, memories and nightmares alike haunting him. It was Lily’s dad who started buying him Legos. ‘Something to keep your mind busy,’ he had said.

And Ciarán Evans is a brilliant, brilliant man, because it worked. The tedium and concentration keeps his mind occupied and hands busy, letting him build and build until finally, he can sleep. Lily helps, too. She insists on joining him on nights like this, keeping him company while she helps him work on whichever new set he’s started. He has fewer nightmares now, seven years later, but whenever he does, well. He has his Legos, and he has his Lily.

She’s quiet where she sits next to him, sticking two grey bricks together with a soft click. She hasn’t spoken a word, hasn’t even acknowledged the fact that Regulus should be in bed, tonight most especially. He’s having surgery tomorrow for Christ’s sake, she should be reprimanding him. He knows that she won’t. Lily always waits until he breaks the silence, lets him decide whether he wants to at all. Regulus loves her even more for it.

A beat. Maybe two. “I don’t know why I’m scared.”

Lily hums in acknowledgment, eyes still glued on the model before them. Regulus sighs shakily and sets down the pieces in his hands. “I’ve wanted top surgery forever, you know? I need it, really. I just…”

“Maybe that’s why you’re scared,” Lily offers. “Maybe you’re scared of the possibility that something will change in a bad way, that this magical idea you have of how everything will go won’t happen.”

He swallows, drumming his fingers on the table. “Maybe. I just feel stupid.”

“Regulus,” she says, finally turning to look at him. Her eyes are bright and determined, and his breath catches at the sight. “You’ve never done well with change, you’re not stupid.”

“I know, but—”

“Nope, no buts. Do you really think I wouldn’t tell you if you were being stupid? Because I love you, but I would.”

Regulus huffs a laugh, leaning his head on her shoulder. “I know you would. S’why I love you so much.”

“Regulus Black being sappy? The world must have ended.”

“Oh, fuck off,” he says, nudging his girlfriend’s shoulder with his own. She chuckles, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. Regulus sighs softly, eyes fluttering shut.

Lily presses a little kiss to the top of his head. “Think you can sleep now?”

“Mm, yeah, probably.”

“Good.” She sits up, disrupting their impromptu cuddle. “Because you need to sleep. You have surgery tomorrow at ten, and look at the time—”

“I was wondering when you would go mother hen on me,” he says with a small smile, and Lily rolls her eyes fondly.

“Worrying for your health is not mother henning.”

“Of course, dear.”

She scoffs lightly and stands, offering her hand to Regulus and pulling him to his feet. Before he can do anything else, Lily tugs him into a tight hug, a hand cupping the back of his neck and pulling him close. He buries his face in her hair, eyes fluttering shut.

Lily kisses him on the head again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, despite your mother henning.”

Crimson Rivers cover and internal art for the first 25 chapters! ❤️ the full back and front cover is on my Twitter.

Wanted to clarify just in case! This is not made to be sold. This was purely a personal project for fun! Fic belongs to bizarrestars.

Regulus:"Noise cancelling headphones aren't enough. I need everything and everyone to die"

Here is one of my prompts for the @marauderswithpalestineproject fandom initiative!🍉

This is prompt number 97 for @lunarlivs , who kindly donated and asked for "Wolfstar reading together"! This was such a lovely prompt.

Thank you and everyone else who donated, and a big thank you to the organization team!

Sirius is listening intently while Remus is reading him the story of a magic tree, a tree that only is visible on nights with a full moon, on nights when everything else is cowering down in fear of the howling creatures. This tree doesn't flinch in fear, it's branches aren't shaking, it's leaves aren't falling. It's stretching its branches towards the monsters with their big teeth and sharp claws, and it's singing them a lullaby with its leaves until the monsters fall asleep at their roots, their pain a bit soothed by the presence of something not scared of them.

In Sirius imagination the tree begins to grow behind Remus, it's magic begins to glow and he can imagine Padfoot and Moony playing beneath it before falling asleep, happy and free, and protected.

Trans Reggie hcs bc I am *menstruating and dysphoric* and he's so me

Anyone who is only here to say they hate the trans reg hc, leave, I don't need you JKR kinnies here

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- he never really mentions it, he prefers to not think about being trans because he feels more comfortable knowing what he is in his mind than having to acknowledge and address it physically

- he isn't in a rush to pass. At first he was really worried but he took to deciding that he was more comfortable being himself than trying desperately to fit the ideal of what he should look like. After a while he took to gaslighting people who pointed it out with phrases such as 'actually I have a testosterone deficiency and I'm really upset about it' (not technically a lie) or 'why the hell would I look like a girl to you'

- doesn't get dysphoric over his 'feminine' features that often because he just straight up forgets he has them, they make him uncomfortable when he remembers them but he usually forgets they're even there

- you just know he has a constant supply of peppermint tea for cramps, he doesn't even like it bit Dorcas mentioned that it helps once and he doesn't care anymore

- it doesn't matter how fem an outfit looks on him because he KNOWS he has boxers on underneath and that's enough to convince himself it isn't

- WOULD backhand someone who tried to 'smol bean trans boi 🥺🥺' him and would NOT regret it or apologise

- Sirius was the second person he told and the response was simply 'okay'. He was a little underwhelmed but didn't complain

-the first person was Dorcas, the third was Narcissa, and the joint fourth were Barty, Evan, and Pandora

- got upset at small things when he was a kid (not being called lad when Sirius was) but didn't connect the dots until much later

- convinced himself that the second he got T everything would fix itself

- James is banned from mentioning the fact he has a period but Lily is allowed to talk about it whenever she wants bc he feels safer for some reason (none of them understand why)

- Sirius likes to joke about him being the short angry transmasc stereotype despite reg being pretty tall (he's still angry and broody tho)