The very valuable information Regulus provided to the Order about Voldemort's Horcruxes and how to destroy them helped in making them attain an upper hand over the dark forces.

The hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes began and witches and wizards from the Order spread far and wide to search and destroy the potential items housing the Dark Lord's soul.

So far Dumbledore had managed to find Marvolo Gaunt's ring and destroyed it, causing Voldemort to weaken further.

But as one more Horcrux had reached its destruction, it made Voldemort aware that the Order had figured out his secret and he was in the utmost peril.

Perhaps he should have followed Lucius Malfoy's advice and gathered all his Horcruxes before the Order of the Phoenix could get to them. But now it was too late to act as a single wrong move could be extremely costly.

Therefore, he chose to retaliate by striking against the Order members once again. A deadly bloodshed could ensue and both sides would suffer greatly from it.

At long last, the Order as well as the dark forces chose to retreat and stay in hiding from the other. Neither could afford to lose more lives and both had hidden agendas needing urgent completion that couldn't be made possible if they were actively in battle with each other.

As a result, the Order caught a brief break and the Potter family was able to gather their remaining friends for Harry's first birthday.

It was a very hushed event with only a select few in attendance. Peter and Remus were there as they were James' closest friends. James invited Regulus as well knowing that Sirius wouldn't want him to leave his brother out. And it wouldn't be safe to leave Esme and Eleanor by themselves so they came along as well.

After a very long time, the Potter house at Godric Hollow was full of people other than James, Lily, and Harry. Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the war hanging above them akin to the sword of Damocles, the young parents wanted to celebrate their firstborn's birthday with their friends and family.

That night the protective enchantments around Godric Hollow were strengthened and every person in attendance was sworn to secrecy to keep the Potters safe. Due to the prophecy that had already been made, it was clear that Harry could be the boy destined to end the Dark Lord so keeping him safe was a foremost priority for every single person around him.

However, for that one night, they were allowed to come together and all of them knew the stakes if anything went wrong. They were given a safe password to enter the village and had to take a lot of safety precautions so as not to alert the Death Eaters about their little meetup.

James and Lily decorated the living room with balloons and prepared a feast for their guests. Baby Harry was eager to play with the balloons bouncing around him as he laughed and giggled while his parents arranged everything.

Shortly after, their friends began to arrive one by one. James welcomed them warmly, giving tight hugs to both Remus and Peter as he had missed his brothers a lot. Regulus had awkwardly stepped aside as James reeled Remus into a hug, and the elder man sensed that he felt out of place there.

When he let Remus go and faced Regulus, he was reminded of his partner in crime Sirius Black as both brothers shared the same shade of dark hair and resembled each other to a certain extent.

"Can I greet you like I would have greeted Sirius?" He asked gently, expecting him to refuse but deep down hoping that he would agree.

His voice was melancholic yet hopeful as if seeing him reminded him of Sirius and made him sad that his best friend was no longer with them. But at the same time, he wanted to acknowledge and accept his best friend's brother for whom Sirius had sacrificed his life.

Regulus nodded in reply to his request, feeling a tightening in his chest upon his dead brother's mention.

Right next moment, James had engulfed him into a warm brotherly embrace as well and Regulus stilled at first but then awkwardly returned the gesture.

As he let go of him, Regulus had tears in his eyes that he quickly blinked away.

He could see very well now why Sirius had chosen to run away from Grimmauld Place all those years ago. He could see that family wasn't made by blood only, Sirius had found a much better and loving family with those three boys he had spent his school days with.

And now by the twist of fate, Regulus was standing with the same family of closely knit friends his brother had cherished but the only difference was that Sirius was no longer alive to be there too. His absence could be felt heavily as there was no hearty laughter punctuating their conversations, no lame jokes being pulled that were a characteristic of Sirius Black and no glimpse of sparkling grey eyes, windblown dark hair and a weather beaten leather jacket could be seen anywhere around them.

Without Sirius, the Marauders were incomplete.

Lily had come up to meet them too as James closed the door behind the guests and secured all the protective enchantments once again.

They all went in where baby Harry had crawled out of the cocoon of balloons he was playing in and headed to his uncle Moony who lifted him up instantly.

Regulus saw that young lively child in Remus' arms thinking that boy was predicted to be the only savior they could have against Voldemort.

He was just a boy; too young, too innocent and undeserving of the horrors that raging war could unleash on them all.

He was just a boy like Regulus had once been; thrown into a war that had the ability to take everything and everyone away from him.

Young Harry Potter had a heavy future in front of him, the weight of saving the wizarding world precariously balancing on his dainty shoulders.

And as Regulus thought about it further, he couldn't have felt more sorry for the little child playing with Rem's sandy brown curls.

There was no knowing what the future would bring for Harry James Potter but he could clearly see that a lot was expected from him already just like a lot had been expected from Regulus.

***