Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Regulus asked with folded arms. The poster on the wall assured him they were in the right place but there was something strangely amusing about a bunch of Mutants meeting in a village hall of all places. Many people still acted like they were cryptids meeting in the dead of night with blood rituals and sacrifices.

Barty slung an arm around his shoulder and ruffled his hair. “Oh, my adorable little cynic. Lighten up. This is going to be brilliant just you wait and see.”

Regulus highly doubted anything involving the words ‘support group’ could be as brilliant as Barty proclaimed. 

When his best friend first bought the flyer home several days ago, proudly pointing to the bold text assuring them that ‘any and all mutations were welcome’, he was sceptical at best. Only the fact that the group had never met before persuaded him to go. He refused to join an already established group with their own power dynamics and inside jokes. At least this way it would be easy to go in and out unnoticed. He would attend one meeting, maybe two, and Barty would get bored enough to agree to drop out of the third. Once they missed one meeting, neither of them would feel beholden to return. 

Already irritated, he watched a woman leaving the building pause to stare at Barty’s deep blue skin and pointed ears with barely disguised contempt. If this place showed any signs of mutantphobia, he would break something. Resisting the urge to take some petty revenge was challenging but necessary. Befriending Barty had been excellent for testing his self-control. 

One of them had to be the level-headed one and it certainly would not be the flighty teleporter with claws. 

Looking around the surprisingly large reception area, he saw an exceptionally tall young man with a strange headset over his eyes smiling at them. No doubt he was used to sticking out like a sore thumb and Regulus felt relieved to see a visible sign of mutation. Barty had it much harder than him since he looked so proudly Mutant; Regulus could hide—it was sort of his thing. 

“Hello! My name is Remus,” the man said, waving the clipboard in his hand. “While I’m sure you’re both excellent artists, I’m going to assume you are here for the Mutant Support Meeting, not the weekly crafts club?”

Barty grinned, happily baring his fangs. “Yes.”

“Fantastic. I’ll just need you to sign in here—a name, a nickname, it doesn’t matter. We decided to keep the first few meetings more relaxed so people can come and go as they please. Mutants are notoriously distrusting.”

If it were not for the heavy silver and red visor covering his eyes, Regulus would have been slightly offended. Not that Remus was wrong. After all, he had been planning on skipping out and it took days of begging from Barty before he agreed to come in the first place.

Mutants were distrusting, but for good reason. 

Still, he did as instructed and signed his first name underneath Barty’s before hastily handing the board back. Remus then urged them to put a name tag on and he deeply regretted his choice of blouse when he smoothed down the adhesive sticker to his chest. If the name tag left a single piece of residue behind he would end up on the news. 

“The group is led by Professor Minerva McGonagall, she’s just inside with a couple other arrivals,” Remus said, gesturing to a set of double doors behind him.

“Do you work here?” Regulus asked curiously. 

At his question, Remus smiled. With half of his face obscured by the visor, it was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking but he seemed kind. 

“Professor McGonagall teaches at Rowena University, I’m her teaching assistant. She’s been leading these support groups for longer than I’ve been alive. When she told me she was starting a new round of meetings, I finally decided to join and as a favour to her I said I’d handle check-ins.” 

A lengthy way of saying no. Regulus could not help but wonder what subject McGonagall taught. He assumed she was a Mutant herself. At least, he hoped she was. If he came down here just to hear a human tell them how they were ‘not alone anymore’ then he would really lose it. 

The main doors swung open and Remus gestured for them to pass him by. Regulus glanced over his shoulder to see a stunningly handsome young man with dark skin, curly hair, and an awfully charming grin. Excitement fluttered in his gut when the man caught his eye and winked before sauntering up to Remus. 

“Oh, wow!” 

Snapping out of his staring, he turned back to see Barty eagerly bouncing on his heels. “What is it?”

“Look,” Barty whispered, nodding towards the far windows where two young women were chatting. One was a plump redhead who even someone as firmly homosexual as Regulus could see was stunningly pretty. Her vibrantly crimson hair was an obvious mutation by itself, but it was the girl beside her whom Barty must have been indicating. 

Probably because her skin was green.

Even clear across the room, he could see her skin was a rich, deep shade like birch leaves. Her hair was a simple mousy brown but she was so obviously a Mutant, he immediately banished all of his previous reluctance. Seeing Barty so happy loosened the knot in his chest and he made a point to gently squeeze his hand. 

“You may have been outdone,” he said calmly. “I always have preferred green.”

Barty’s eyes were sparkling. “This is brilliant. I can’t believe we’ve never thought to come to something like this before.”

Suppressing a grin, he nudged Barty to the side as the handsome boy from the reception hall waltzed inside with two women close behind him. He lingered long enough to see the handsome man’s name began with a ‘J’ before Barty pulled him over to the refreshments table. 

The two of them waited by the snack table. As was typical, Barty devoured a platter of the little sandwiches by himself. Teleporting with someone else always tired him a little and since Regulus had not wanted to drive, and Barty lacked a driving license, that left public transport or teleportation—Regulus did not take public transport. 

By the time Remus walked inside and closed the doors behind himself to signal the beginning of the meeting, roughly a dozen Mutants had arrived and were lingering around the room. Some chatted amicably to those around them, others hovered, skirting the fringes of the room uncertainly. Regulus and Barty were close to the two women from earlier who had wandered away from the windows when a flock of birds started screeching through the pane. He had no idea what that was about but the pale woman went as shockingly red as her hair, so he assumed she had a fear of them or something. 

“Hello everyone, please take a seat.” 

The woman who spoke could only have been the professor. She was tall and stately with wrinkled, peachy skin, grey hair, and a long emerald skirt paired with a smart, tartan blazer. Even though she was probably the same age as his grandmother, she moved with enough energy to make him wonder if she had enhanced stamina or health as a mutation. 

Along with the rest of the group, he wandered towards the middle of the room where a dozen chairs had been arranged in a small circle. There was a stack of additional chairs in the corner but he doubted they would be necessary. Once everyone was seated there was only one empty chair directly across from McGonagall. 

Regulus was only three chairs to her left between Barty and a young man with dark skin and twists. 

“Wonderful. There is a chance we may have a few stragglers later so I’ll leave that chair—it has happened before. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, professor of English Literature and Mutant History. My background is in both academics and practical applications of my knowledge. Primarily, I teach, although in my prime I worked with local authorities, government bodies, and even members of parliament to campaign for Mutant rights, consult on legislative issues, and advocate for Mutants unfairly penalised by the justice system. Occasionally, I still do these things alongside facilitating Mutant Support Meetings, community events, and fundraisers.” The woman’s severe expression softened almost imperceptibly. “Now, before we go any further, I would like to thank you all for coming here today. I have been arranging these support groups for almost fifty years—beginning when I was eighteen and one of only three identified Mutants in my university—and I assure you, I always fear nobody will turn up.”

Immediately, his respect for the woman tripled. Mutant rights had only become protected by law fifteen years ago but McGonagall had been championing for Mutants for as long as his parents had been alive. She must have opened herself up to scrutiny willingly since he could not see any visible signs of mutation. If she could hide, why did she choose not to? The thought made him feel a little guilty but it was hard to undo the habit of keeping his head down and staying out of the way. Especially as his mutation made it so easy. 

“For some more background information, I am happily married to my lovely wife who is also a Mutant. Before we move any further, I would like to reiterate the information on the promotional posters. Any and all mutations are welcome here. There will be no prejudice of any kind including bigotry on account of race, religious or spiritual beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, gender, physical abilities or disabilities, and level of mutation. We accept everyone here.”

“Including humans?” the girl directly to McGonagall’s right said. She had choppy blonde hair and a heavy jacket. There was no acidity in her tone, only curiosity. 

McGonagall nodded. “There will be no talk of Mutant supremacy or human inferiority here. While I am sure you all have experienced the prejudice of non-mutant humans before, this is a safe space and many Mutants will find friends or family in humans. If you mean to ask if these meetings are open to involvement from humans then the answer is a gentle, but firm, no. This space is not for them. We host community events where human friends, partners, or family are more than welcome to join but these closed meetings are for Mutants only.”

Exhaling a quiet sigh of relief, Regulus bumped his shoulder against Barty’s stiff form. Neither of them were particularly hateful towards humans but they had both suffered at the hands of intolerant humans and preferred to avoid them if they could. At least this place would be a safe space. Hopefully. Barty deserved that much. He was already grateful to see several visible mutations in the room aside from Remus. 

“I am sure by now you are all dying to know what my mutation is and while I am exceedingly proud of my ability, I take care to respect the privacy of those around me and my shielding is impeccable,” McGonagall said. “My gift is telepathy, and I truly do see it as a gift. I’ll be generous and inform you my wife is a healer—literally. She can heal a broken bone as if it is nothing. As you can imagine, my Poppy is currently working hard at the local hospital and has no plans to leave anytime soon. Between the two of us, I am sure we will be working until our coffins close.”

Regulus did not laugh like those around the room but he did smile. Despite Mutants being better understood now than they were back in McGonagall’s youth, it was still somewhat of a novelty to see a Mutant so proud of their identity. Smear campaigns and propaganda made most Mutants more keen to keep to the shadows. 

His eyes found Barty’s. 

If they could. 

“Now, I would assume you have all heard enough about me. We will move on to introductions in a moment but I wanted to assure you all that anything you say here is firmly confidential. There will be no audio recordings, videotapes, or note-taking of any kind in this room. You are safe here and I encourage you all to show off your mutations if you feel up to it.”

There were some uneasy murmurings. While some Mutants had rather mundane abilities, others could be incredibly dangerous. Regulus did not believe in stifling mutations. They were all unique and brilliant. But he could understand being hesitant to use one’s abilities to their full extent. He was guilty of the same thing. 

“Excellent. Who would like to go first?”

To his surprise, someone volunteered almost immediately. 

“I will,” the choppy blonde on McGonagall’s right said. Regulus barely had a second to wonder what her mutation was when she stood and shrugged off her jacket. 

Awe swept across the room. Enormous wings sprouted from her back with a wingspan of at least seven metres. Each feather was a glossy shade of black, the same colour as the roots of her hair despite the dyed blonde length. 

“I’m Marlene. Twenty-two years old. Obviously, my mutation is these stunning wings. I can fly over one hundred and fifty miles per hour but I haven’t had much time to practice so I’m sure I could go faster.”

“How do you hide them?” Barty blurted. 

Thankfully, Marlene was not offended. “They sort of fold up into my skin. It’s uncomfortable to hold for prolonged periods but I can go a few hours with them concealed. Luckily my family owns an air strip. I grew up flying with my dad in his passenger plane—when my wings came in at fifteen, he just said he always knew I was born to fly.”

“Your family are supportive?” Remus asked in a neutral tone. 

Marlene nodded. “I’m really lucky that way. My little cousins love to fly with me. My brother likes to race me in his plane and my mother always checks my wings to see if my feathers are healthy. One of my sisters suggested I go into ornithology and it was the best decision I ever made—birds love me.” She gave the green girl beside her a pointed wink. 

The sting of envy in his gut was not unfamiliar to him. Marlene was so confident in who she was, in her abilities. He supposed growing up with such a supportive family would do that to a person. He still remembered Mother’s horrified stare the first time she realised he was a Mutant. 

Marlene gave a firm flap of her wings and Regulus could imagine the muscles in them had to be especially strong to hold the weight of a person. “Anyway, that’s me. I’m glad to be here. My relatives are all human and they suggested I come here to connect with other Mutants. It’s nice to see for myself I’m not the only one. Growing up my school only had two Mutants and they were both arseholes.” 

“Seconded,” Barty said quietly, giving Regulus a firm nudge. Regulus rolled his eyes. His friendship with Barty was one of the things he held most dear and the only reason he brushed off the remark was because he knew Barty felt the exact same. 

“Thank you very much, Marlene. Your wings are remarkable.” Marlene raised her wings proudly before sitting. He was glad to see she did not bother to cover them up, instead keeping them curled around her shoulders like a feathery shawl. “To make things simpler, we will continue across the circle,” McGonagall said with an encouraging smile aimed at the green woman next to Marlene. 

Unlike Marlene, she appeared more anxious as she stood. “Er, hello, everyone. My name is Alice. I’m not sure if any of you have noticed but I’m a Mutant.” There were many laughs at that, even Regulus gave a soft snort. Inappropriate as ever, Barty wolf-whistled. “I’m twenty-six and engaged to a man named Frank, he’s not a Mutant but he’s been my partner for more than ten years.” 

Regulus was not the only one shocked. Statistically, humans were less likely to enter relationships with Mutants but that gap was even wider for those with visible mutations. Had Alice and Frank been together before her mutation manifested? Or was he one of the fetishists who sought out visibly mutated individuals for their own sick satisfaction? If they had been together this long he doubted it was the latter but the ever-suspicious part of him couldn’t help but think it.

“I know how that sounds,” Alice said suddenly. “But Frank is brilliant. His mother is a Mutant with super strength, I guess the gene skipped Frank. Anyway, um, about me… I manifested when I was born which is rare. Well, I should say I was born green, like Elphaba. My birth parents were mortified and gave me up for adoption but my adoptive parents are—pardon my language—fucking brilliant. They’re like Frank and I except my dad is a Mutant and my mother isn’t. Dad can control ice so he naturally went into the ice cream business. If you’ve ever gone to Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour—”

“Woah! I love Fortescue’s!” Handsome Man said loudly, a wide grin on his face. Regulus found himself pondering the nickname as it popped into his head.

It fit. 

“So do I. Their banana and peanut butter sundae is heavenly,” Marlene said with a sigh. 

“No, the sticky toffee pudding in a cone is the one.” Handsome Man argued.  

Finding someone who had lived in Rowena for at least one summer who did not have an appreciation for Florean Fortescue’s ice cream was impossible. He preferred the lavender and earl grey ice cream; Barty liked chocolate chili. 

“Yeah, Dad is pretty proud of the place,” Alice said, visibly brightening. “They did the best they could for me. Because I was always green it was pretty impossible to hide my mutation and at a certain point I stopped trying. Obviously it wasn’t easy. Kids are awful to normal kids and there was some teasing at first but after a while everyone just sort of got used to me. A new kid would come to school and it was just ‘oh, yeah, that’s Alice, she’s green’ and everyone moved on. My secondary mutation kicked in when I was fourteen. I have the ability to manipulate plant life. I can grow them, shrink them, help them along if they’re struggling…” Alice raised a hand showing a single daisy sprouting up from the centre of her palm. 

“Let me guess, are you a florist?” Barty asked cheekily. 

“Actually, I’m a school teacher,” she said proudly. “But I do have the nicest garden on my street.”

A green school teacher. Regulus could only imagine what that must be like for her. 

“Thank you, Alice. Please ask your father to consider bringing back the spearmint toffee flavour. My wife was inconsolable when it was removed.”

Cheeks flushed a deep green, Alice gave a hearty laugh. “As you wish, Professor.”

Alice sat down and the girl beside her, the redhead she had been speaking to earlier, stood up with less visible nerves. 

“Hello, I’m Lily, I’m twenty-two. I’ve never been fully sure when my mutation manifested but it was pretty early, around six or so. Honestly, my mutation is pretty mundane, all things considered. I can communicate with animals. From insects to mammals to reptiles to sea creatures… I can’t really demonstrate it here since there are no animals aside from a really loud flock of pigeons flapping about on the roof rioting over a man who threw a rock at them earlier, but I promise I’m a hoot at the zoo. I’m also studying to become a vet. Makes it very easy to diagnose my patients when I can ask Mittens if his stomach hurts.”

The group offered a few laughs. What a brilliant mutation. Useful, even. How many Mutants could say the same?

“There is no such thing as a mundane mutation, my dear girl,” McGonagall said. 

Lily shrugged. “I love what I can do but it’s not all been great. My older sister used to be my best friend. Every day after school we would walk to the park, play on the swings, and then explore the forest. She thought it was brilliant that every animal—the birds, squirrels, even rabbits and foxes—would come out to see us. We even managed to pet a few deer one time. They were curious at our lack of hooves.”

Lily looked down, visibly steeling herself. 

“Of course, then she grew up. No longer was it cool to have a little sister walking around with birds in her hair or spiders crawling over her arms or housing frogs in her pockets at the dinner table. She decided she didn’t want a filthy animal anywhere near her. I guess I never thought that would apply to me too.” Lily laughed bitterly. 

Regulus felt his stomach clench as he ruminated on her story. He knew firsthand how devastating it was to lose the love of an older sibling but at least Sirius had no idea he was a Mutant. 

Sirius did not know much of anything about him anymore, not even his name. 

“Thank you for sharing, Lily. I assure you, there is nothing wrong with what you can do. Your mutation is magnificent and you are no longer alone.” 

Lily gave McGonagall a tight smile. 

“Now, I wonder if you could convince my wife’s beloved cat to stop biting my ankles every time she sees me.”

Lily‘s laugh was bright and carefree. “I absolutely could. From experience she’s probably just jealous.”

“We must exchange numbers,” McGonagall said with a smile. “Or that cat will end up locked in the shed.”

Everyone laughed a little, still reeling from Lily’s story. Regulus hardly noticed when the focus switched to the next person in the circle but he looked up in time to see her sigh. She was a truly beautiful young woman with rich dark skin and long locs adorned with golden jewellery which glowed almost as brightly as the gold markings under her eyes. The lines were thin, branching high over her eyelids to her temples, and down across the inner half of her cheeks, ending at her jaw. With how they glowed as the woman stood to address the group, he knew they could not be painted on. Another visible mutation. Regulus felt Barty perk up beside him and wished he could hunt down Bartemius Senior for the sole purpose of wrenching his head off. 

He could do it too.

“My name is Dorcas, I’m twenty-four and a producer by trade,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “I manifested when I was sixteen which includes the markings on my face. My mutation also allows me to absorb sound and convert it into light.” To demonstrate, she raised both palms, her deep brown skin glowed as gold as the markings on her face. Laser beams of brilliant light danced around her hands, zigzagging up to the ceiling and bouncing around the room before fizzling out. “I stored up energy in the car on the way here.”

“Fantastic!” Handsome Man said. Regulus eyed his circular glasses and smooth, dark brown skin, then stared shamelessly at his muscular forearms and wide grin. Enhanced beauty must be his mutation, it was the only thing that made sense. Hopefully the fit man was not a telepath since his shields were lowered so as to not offend McGonagall. 

“That’s gorgeous,” Marlene said, her eyes sparkling. “Almost as gorgeous as you.”

Dorcas’ eyes widened before a slow smirk tugged at her lips. “I don’t think you can keep up with me, angel.”

“We’ll see about that, hot stuff.”

A slight smile tugging at her lips, Dorcas rolled her eyes. “Thank you. I only moved to Rowena three months ago for work and my mother thought it would be good to attend a meeting to see if there were any other Mutants in the area my age. I didn’t realise there were so many of us, it’s reassuring. I’m originally from Slytherin in London.”

Regulus inhaled sharply. He was from Slytherin too. Well, he was born in South Korea but raised in the Black townhouse in Slytherin from when he was nine. 

Barty gave an understanding noise. “I’m from Salazar which is right next door. Both areas are the same, very conservative.” 

“You can say that again,” Dorcas said, her shoulders relaxing. 

“I moved here from Slytherin,” Regulus said, immediately hating the fact that he spoke when all eyes darted to him. “I can imagine you are glad to be rid of the place.”

Dorcas grinned. “If I wanted to be surrounded by posh, out of touch pricks I’d have gotten a job in Parliament.”

This time every single person reacted. Most people laughed. One plump young man gave a startled little gasp. McGonagall only thinned her lips but he could see her eyes dancing with amusement as she tried to stay stern. 

“Thank you, Dorcas,” McGonagall said, voice shaking. “And the rest of you for your contributions. There are many more Mutants out there than you may think. It is good to know you are not alone.”

Next in the circle was another girl with warm brown skin and Regulus was pleased when the attention was fully diverted from him. The woman’s spiral curls hung just past her shoulders and everything—from her eyeshadow to her nail polish to her elegant blazer and even her shoes—was pink. 

The woman stood, adjusting her blazer. “My name is Mary, lovely to meet you all. I turned twenty-three last week. Speaking of posh pricks, I am an art curator at the Ravenclaw Museum of Art.” Extremely impressive for someone so young. Regulus eyed her blazer. She clearly had an artist’s eye. The cut was tailored and her heels were, honestly, stunning. “I joined for the social connections, mostly. I don’t have any Mutant friends that live close by. My mutation is sort of impossible to show off unless someone wants to come at me with a weapon.”

“Defensive shielding?” McGonagall asked politely. 

Mary sent her an amused grin. “Sometimes. Basically, when I was thirteen, my family went on a cruise, and a rough wave knocked me clean off the top deck. Instead of splatting against the surface of the water, I managed to cut through like an expert diver despite having no experience. Then the moment my body was submerged, I grew gills. For a few months we thought my mutation was water based, then I was attacked by a boy at my school with a bat for rejecting him. You should have seen Mulciber’s face when my body doubled in size and grew armoured plates.”

“Holy shit!” Remus blurted. 

“Essentially, I adapt to survive. Fire, explosions, car crashes…”

“That is the most brilliant thing I’ve ever heard,” Lily said, as awed as the rest of them. What was controlling water or air in the face of true survival? Regulus shook his head. Every day there were new forms of mutations cropping up. He had never heard of anything like what Mary could do. 

“Thank you, pet. It can be a bit inconvenient at times. Once, I was working at a corner shop in my first year of university and I blinked only to find myself a mile away in the middle of a park.” Mary shrugged. “The place blew up. Gas leak. Luckily nobody was injured but I would have been blown to pieces had my mutation not kicked in.”

“Fuck me,” Marlene said with a shake of her head, a wide grin on her face. “That actually might be the best mutation I’ve ever heard of.”

“Seconded,” Dorcas said. 

Mary gave a proud little dip of her head and sat down. Regulus was glad to see Remus stand next. He was almost painfully curious about the visor on his head. He was the only person in the room with some form of equipment on him and Regulus would bet his wallet that it had something to do with his mutation. 

“Hello, nice to see you all again. I spoke to some of you in the entrance hall but for those of you who don’t know me I’m Remus, twenty-three years old. Professor McGonagall is my literature teacher at the university and I signed up to be her assistant for her Mutant studies class since it helps to have someone to act as an example of a more visible mutation. As you can probably guess, it’s linked to my visor. When I was fifteen I was in a car crash with my parents and got a bad knock to the back of my head. My mutation activated at the same time but it was… Well, I can demonstrate, but it can be a bit dangerous.”

McGonagall smiled. “There is a mannequin in the cupboard if you would like to show off.”

Remus shrugged and walked over to the cupboard. He pulled out the mannequin and set it up as far away from the group as he could. When he moved back to his seat, he raised a hand to the side of his visor and suddenly two bright red beams cleaved the mannequin in half. 

Everyone in the room was startled, even Regulus. 

“Imagine that but constantly. The doctors think any attempt I had at controlling it was lost when I was injured. Thankfully, they put me in touch with Professor McGonagall and with her help, she connected me with an older Mutant who had a knack for inventing. He made me this visor which allows me to see again, although only in shades of red as I’m sure you can gather.” He tapped the red plate at the front of his visor. “Ruby quartz.”

“You’ve known McGonagall that long?” Handsome Man asked. 

“And I am very grateful,” Remus said, smiling at her. “Her wife, Poppy, was my physician. Nobody else wanted to deal with a Mutant who let off red beams whenever I slipped up and forgot to keep my eyes closed.”

“You were a darling, I have no idea what happened,” McGonagall said teasingly. 

“So, did you have to walk around with your eyes shut?” the plump boy on McGonagall’s other side asked quietly. 

“For about a year or so, yes. I wrapped bandages around my head so I wouldn’t accidentally open my eyes and blow up my desk at school.” 

Or another person, went without saying.

Out of all of them, Remus was the only one so far to show a true downside to his mutation. The optic beams were a magnificent display of power but the inability to control them seemed like a headache. Occasionally, Regulus would have trouble controlling his own abilities but at least they were not so flashy. 

“To be honest, I don’t really have any Mutant friends. Or friends in general. My visor makes a lot of humans wary and other Mutants think I’m too dull since I’d rather stay in with a book and a cup of tea than go out.” Remus spread his hands, a wry smile on his face. “But I don’t see the point in pretending to be anything I’m not. I’m Welsh. I’m Yemeni. I’m bisexual. I’m a Mutant. I get headaches sometimes. I love to sing even though I’m bad at it. I have no idea what I’m going to do when I leave university unless a professional demolition crew rolls into town…”

There were several laughs. Despite his usual standoffish attitude, Regulus found himself charmed by Remus. He respected his candour. 

“Thank you, Remus. You have come so far,” McGonagall said with distinctly more pride than she showed previously. If Remus were her little protégé he could see them being close. No wonder he volunteered to handle check-ins. 

When Remus sat down, a funny jolt shot through Regulus’ gut when Handsome Man stood next. There was no point in pretending. This man was easily the most beautiful person Regulus had ever seen in his life. Shiny shoes, long legs wrapped in straight denim jeans, a red and gold block stripe jumper which complimented his deep brown skin beautifully. A long necklace with a bronze sun rested against his sternum. The metal matched his circular glasses, the frames and lenses of which were shiny and clean. His thick lips were spread in a smile that widened as he looked around the room and caught Regulus’ appraising stare. Those rich brown eyes disappeared from sight when he turned his head only to look back and wink at Regulus, his dark curls tumbling with the movement. 

Heat crept up his neck. What a terribly attractive man. It had to be a part of his mutation. Some sort of allure? A siren pull that no man could resist?

“Hi, I’m James. I’m twenty-two, studying a Master of Pharmacy degree since I both like it a lot and it’s sort of a family thing. My mutation came at a really inopportune time. It’s actually a little embarrassing. I was fifteen and trying to figure out my sexuality which led me to pick up a pamphlet on an LGBT+ youth support group in my area. My mama walked in on me while I was looking at it and suddenly…” James moved over to the spare chair next to Barty. With a single touch, the blue plastic chair became a comfortable looking black computer chair. “From her point of view, I was sitting on my bed holding a rubber duck.” 

“What even is that?” Marlene said, as stunned as Regulus. 

Not enhanced beauty. So, why was Regulus’ heart pounding? Why were his palms sweaty?

“I just call it ‘Pottery’ because my last name is Potter.” James grinned widely. “The only downside to it is sometimes it happens without me meaning to. I once changed my papa’s glasses into a handful of rocks, the gift I had been wrapping for my abuela became a bunch of butterflies because I saw one out the window… At least it doesn’t tire me out much, not the little things anyway. My papa took me to a scrapyard to test it out on bigger things; I managed to change a double-decker bus into a filing cabinet and I only passed out for about a minute!”

“Transfiguration,” McGonagall said, a somewhat sad smile on her face. “One of my oldest friends had a similar gift although his was more limited. He could not transfigure as frequently nor on the scale you appear to.”

Satisfied, James smiled. “I’m sure he was great. It’s pretty fun for the most part.”

“Can you make money?” Barty asked. “Or precious gems? Because—”

James frowned. “You know, I’ve never actually tried…”

“Let us leave it there,” McGonagall said briskly. 

After James restored the empty seat, it was Barty’s turn next. Straightening a little, he gave his best friend an encouraging tilt of his head. Barty sent him a wry grin that only Regulus could read through. The gesture was appreciated, Barty was more anxious than he would ever let on. 

“I’m Barty, twenty-one, studying Marketing and Business Analysis at Rowena.” Subjects Barty was exceptional at although he had no real interest in them. “I dragged my best friend here today, he’s the adorable little grump to my left here.” Regulus rolled his eyes and folded his arms as a few people laughed. “As you can see, I’m a Mutant. A lot of people with visible mutations are born that way or they manifest earlier than usual but I looked completely human until I was fourteen. My dad is a massive anti-Mutant prick. He’s a politician so that should tell you everything you need to know. You can imagine how he reacted when his son woke up one day with blue skin, claws, and a prehensile tail.” 

Barty’s tail was looped around his leg but Regulus could see the others leaning around to try and see it. 

“Then there’s this.”

In a soft puff of dark blue smoke, Barty vanished only to reappear almost instantaneously on the other side of the room by the snack table. He swiped up a sandwich and teleported back to his seat to the delight of the group. 

“A teleporter!” Dorcas said happily. “I bet that’s really useful.”

“Yeah. I teleported us here today. I don’t drive for that very reason—waste of time and money. Why spend thousands a year on petrol, insurance, and car repairs when I can get myself wherever I need to go?” 

“How did you learn to control it?” Remus asked. “Did you just start bouncing around your house?”

“Funnily enough, the first time I manifested was right after my dad saw me blue. Since he’s in the public eye he couldn’t outright disown me without violating the Anti-Mutant Discrimination Act, which he vehemently opposed before it passed, but he made it clear I was no longer his son. He was screaming at me across the living room and the next second I was in my best friend’s bedroom clear across town.” Barty gave Regulus a smile that was much warmer than the ones they usually shared. 

The memory of that day made his stomach twist. Barty was leaving out the part where Bartemius Senior beat him bloody before stomping over to his liquor cabinet for refreshments. Fearful and seeking comfort, Barty thought of Regulus, and his mutation fulfilled his wish. 

Marlene leaned forward. “How far can you go?”

Barty made a so-so gesture. “Hard to get an exact number. So far, I can go pretty much anywhere so long as I can picture where I’m going. Reg and I tested it a few times. He showed me some photographs of the house he was born in and I managed to put myself in the front garden.”

“He is neglecting to mention that I am Korean,” Regulus said calmly as the others exclaimed in shock. “He managed to get from London to Busan.”

Barty huffed. “And he is neglecting to mention that when I came back I passed out for half a day.” Which had yet to happen since, even when Barty drunkenly took them both to Japan to try out some viral cheese bun they had seen online. 

“Guess with your abilities you can just completely bypass customs,” Handsome James said. 

“Which is illegal,” McGonagall said, lips quirking.

Remus scoffed, tapping his visor. “Lucky bastard. They always pull me aside because I can’t go through the metal detector.”

There was an amused smile on McGonagall’s face. “Thank you, Barty. That is a truly remarkable gift you have and you wear blue very well.”

Puffing up with pride, Barty bowed and sat back down. “Anything for you. These sandwiches are brilliant.”

“Yes, I noticed you seem quite fond of them. My neighbour, Molly, makes them for my meetings. I will give her your gratitude.”

“You can give her my firstborn if she makes more of these little tuna ones.”

The others all laughed at Barty and Regulus was viciously pleased to see everyone accepting him. When it came to defending those he cared for, Regulus was not above violence. These days, Barty was all he had. Nobody would put him down. 

Mercifully, Barty planted them close to McGonagall so Regulus was not the last to speak. There were still two people yet to share and after Barty he doubted anyone would care too much about what he had to say. As he stood, he felt the anxious flutter of nerves that came with any form of public speaking. 

“Hello. My name is Regulus. I’m twenty-one and currently studying Business Management at Rowena University. My goal is to open a bookshop in a few years. This has nothing to do with my mutation but I love to read.” And the business degree was already paid for by his grandfather—it only made sense to see it through. “You already know Barty is the reason I am here today but we have been best friends since I was eleven. We met at school and happened to both be Mutants although we did not know it at the time. As for my mutation…”

Inhaling slowly, he focused on wrapping a thin force field around his entire body. Although he could not see himself from their perspectives, he saw several people jump in shock, others glanced around the room expectantly. 

“Another teleporter?” Marlene asked brightly. 

“No,” Regulus said, the field vanishing with a thought. “I can bend light to create invisible force fields and constructs of varying sizes which allows me to envelop people or things in them too.” Glancing over at Barty, he raised a brow. Barty grinned, nodding, and Regulus smoothly concealed him and his chair from view. 

“Phenomenal,” James breathed. His dark eyes were wide behind his glasses. “Invisibility!”

Regulus’ cheeks burned. “It isn’t very useful.”

“I can think of a few uses for it,” he argued cheekily. 

“I’ve been trying to convince him to rob a bank with me.” Barty sighed as Regulus dismissed the force field around him. “With my teleportation and his invisibility we would never get caught.”

McGonagall made a disapproving noise but he could see she was fighting back a smile. Several of the others laughed. James was still gazing at him across the circle, a broad smile on his face. 

“When did you manifest?” Dorcas asked. 

Every Mutant had a manifestation story, some were a source of pain and resentment. Surprisingly, Regulus did not mind telling his. All of his problems came several years after he manifested. Or several months before. 

“As with most Mutants, my mutation was triggered by stress.” He refused to expand on that, not here, not with anyone other than Barty who understood. “When I was fourteen, my mutation manifested and I suddenly vanished. Luckily, the only witness was my uncle who happened to be a Mutant too—he had the ability to always detect a lie. As you can imagine, he was an excellent gambler. Anyway, he knew what I was and helped me learn to control it so I would not risk turning invisible at every loud noise.” Which worked for a time but not forever, as Mother could attest to. “Funnily enough, Barty manifested only a few days after and appeared in my bedroom, brilliantly blue and using his tail to mess up my bookshelves.” The only reason his friendship with Barty survived his glaringly visible mutation was his parents’ complete lack of interest in Regulus’ life. They had no idea Barty even was a Mutant until the day Regulus left. 

“Can you see yourself while you’re invisible?” Marlene asked. 

Regulus nodded. “Anyone and anything I envelop in a forcefield is still visible to me and the constructs I create are only limited by my own imagination.” One time when Barty panicked during a teleportation, they appeared thirty thousand feet in the air above London and it was only Regulus’ quick thinking to create two invisible parachutes that slowed them long enough for Barty to screw his head on straight and teleport them back to safety. 

“Are they solid?” Dorcas asked. “I can create concussive blasts and lasers strong enough to cut through metal with the light energy I emit.”

“Yes, they have physical properties and there is force behind them. I can defend against psionic manipulation with them too and they have been strong enough to protect me from extreme harm.” Perhaps that was telling too much but hopefully they would think he meant something like falling down the stairs or a bicycle accident. 

“Amazing,” James said again, diamonds sparkling in his eyes. Strange. He never mentioned anything about a secondary mutation. 

Before he passed the attention onto the next person, Regulus said, “I am also transgender. My pronouns are firmly he/him, and I am not ashamed of it.” He finished with a slight tilt of his chin, refusing to lower his head as he once would have. 

“If any of you have a problem with that, I’ll teleport us to a very high building and let you take a shortcut down,” Barty said happily. 

“I am sure that will not be necessary,” McGonagall said but she was outright beaming. “Thank you very much, Regulus. Never shy away from who you are.”

Regulus thought he could have thrived with a teacher like her as a teenager. A shame she was a university professor. Giving her a small nod, he sat down, pleased to feel Barty’s proud ruffle of his hair. 

As it turned out, the man beside him was as shy as Alice. There were a few awkward moments where he visibly hesitated to stand before forcing himself to do so. Although he was at least six feet tall, he carried himself like he was used to taking up less space. The man cleared his throat, running a hand over his dark hair, his brown skin visibly clammy. 

“Hello. I’m Evan. I’m twenty-two. I work as an accountant.” There was another beat of silence. “I guess I should just…” Incredibly, Evan’s entire form rippled, seamlessly flickering to take on a different appearance of a pale man with ginger hair. His form rippled again and he was entirely orange with vibrant pink hair, then he turned back to his original form, only this time his hair was a shock of white and his eyes were completely different. From the sclera to the iris to the pupil, they were pure black. 

“A shapeshifter,” McGonagall said merrily. “Oh, how magnificent! My first tutor was a shifter. Her original form was entirely purple and her eyes were bone white.”

Evan ducked his head shyly. “I can take on any form. My mutation came in when I was around ten. Although my natural form is what I am most comfortable in, I can take any shape I like. This is my natural form.” He gestured to his rich brown skin, snow white hair, and black eyes. “It was hard to control when I was younger. People didn’t want to make friends with someone who has black eyes, even my own grandfather called me the devil. It didn’t help that every time he said it, my skin would flicker red and my hair would turn dark and spiky. Like I said, it was hard to control back then. Power of suggestion.”

Indignant fury burned in Regulus’ chest. The feeling was almost overtaken by an overwhelming sense of understanding. He knew what it was like to be hated by your own blood. 

“Well, fuck that miserable old bastard,” Barty said sharply. “You are gorgeous, especially in your natural form.”

“I imagine you’ve faced the same thing.”

“I’ve been called a demon more times than I can count, first by my own father,” Barty said, folding his arms. 

“They are the ones who have darkness in their hearts. Not us.” Alice’s jaw was tight. 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, dear,” McGonagall said practically quivering with pride as the next person stood. 

Last to speak was the plump young man he noticed when Dorcas was speaking. “Er, hi, everyone. I’m Peter. I’m twenty-two. I work in a bakery with my mam, she’s the one who found the flyer for the meetings and said I should come. She thinks I don’t get out enough.” Peter gave a self-deprecating laugh, shoulders still hunched. “I manifested when I was sixteen. My neighbours were hosting a barbecue and suddenly I could see all these glowing, coloured lines zigzagging in front of me. Bright green between my neighbour and my mam, a golden band from my mam to me, an orange thread between me and my neighbour’s son who always used to pick on me…” Peter shifted a little awkwardly as he looked at Regulus and Barty. “Of everyone here, you two are the only ones with a solid link. There’s a nice green connection between Professor McGonagall and Remus but you two have a deep purple line as thick as the one between me and my mam.”

Lily rested her elbows on her knees. “You can sense…relationships?”

Peter nodded. “It overwhelmed me at first. I dropped to the floor and started freaking out. Took me ages to realise I wasn’t crazy and that I was a Mutant with a really strange ability.”

“That sounds amazing,” James said. 

“What do the different colours mean?” Barty asked impatiently. “Specifically the purple between Reg and I.”

“Well, that took me a while too. I realised my mam’s link to me was maternal. Only parents and their kids have a golden band. And the thickness of the line is important too. A thin thread means a weak connection, so the thicker the line the deeper the relationship.” Peter looked back at them. “The two of you must be really close. lIt’s rare to see a purple so rich. Purple means a relationship that’s more than a best friend, like platonic soulmates. Yours is really pretty, a deep indigo, the same colour as when the sun rises and the sky goes a dark violet.”

Regulus could not help but smile. His friendship with Barty meant the world to him. He did not know where he would be had they not found each other. How different would his life be if Barty had not chosen to sit beside him on their first day at Slytherin Academy?

“Anyway, some of the colours are obvious. Pink is a crush, red is romantic love, black is hatred, green is friendship, orange is dislike, yellow is familial, gold is parental, light blue is for fear, dark blue for envy, purple is platonic love, brown is disgust, grey is grief—that one’s weird and kind of sad. A lot of people have these faded grey lines seeping off them with nowhere to go.” 

“That must make navigating the world much easier if you always know what people think of you,” Lily said. 

Peter blushed. “They aren’t always nice. Sometimes I see things I really shouldn’t. It’s how I knew my neighbour was having an affair with her brother-in-law which I accidentally revealed on her wedding anniversary. Although, I suppose it does have its uses. There’s been a boyfriend or two of my mam’s that I’ve been able to warn her away from. Ones that only want her business or who don’t love her properly.”

“Good for you, Pete,” James said. 

“Oh, wait. You’re Enid Pettigrew’s son!” Alice said with a gasp. “I should have recognised you. Your mum made my wedding cake!”

Peter blushed even deeper. “Yeah. I mainly sort out the bread and the books but Mam is the true baker. She decorates all the cakes too.”

“She’s lovely! I’ve been meaning to stock up on her eclairs.”

“The Baked Bun on Wisdom Street?” Lily demanded suddenly. “Down the road from Fortescue’s?”

“I love their cheese twists,” Remus sighed. 

For a moment, Regulus worried that Peter’s head might actually explode. He was as red as Remus’ optic beams. Regulus stared at his ruddy face, inwardly hoping there was no link between him and James. The last thing Regulus needed was for his silly attraction to the fit man to be exposed. Hopefully Peter had more discretion now than he did as a child. An ability like that must come with some superb secret-keeping skills. 

“I’ll have to tell her she has fans here, she’ll be glad to know I actually came. Maybe now she’ll finally stop worrying over me,” Peter said, but he was smiling. He had quite a nice smile. 

“Thank you, Peter,” McGonagall said when he sat down. She sent them all a very pleased smile. “Thank every single one of you not only for attending but for sharing. It takes both bravery and strength to stand in front of a group of people and share something so personal. You are all a spectacular group of young people and I believe already some of you have made some real progress. As I said, these early meetings are more laid back while everyone gets to know each other. Some of my groups like to trade phone numbers to create online chats with each other, others choose to meet up outside of the group. I always encourage socialisation between Mutants, I only ask you try not to exclude anyone. Forming friendships can make these meetings much easier but for those who struggle to make connections it can only alienate them.”

“We can set up a group chat,” James said brightly. “I’d love that.”

“Me too,” Alice said shyly. “Frank will be really happy to see I’ve met other Mutants like me.”

“So will my mam,” Peter said quietly but everyone heard it. 

“Mine too,” Lily said. 

“And mine!”

As others around the circle chimed in, Regulus worried his lower lip. At the beginning of the meeting he had been sure he would hate it. When he dressed himself earlier, he already planned out exactly what he would say to Barty in the upcoming days to get out of going back. 

But now…

Well, it was quite lovely to be surrounded by others like them. To see someone as gloriously green as Alice or as unashamed as Remus or as confident as Marlene or as bright as James. Even someone like Evan—who was somehow more insecure than Peter appeared to be—was a delight to behold. They could do good here, for each other. They could lift each other up, share experiences, form friendships…

That thought stunned him. For years, all he had was Barty. Not that he would ever regret it. He would rather only have Barty as a friend than have fifty friendships with less love and loyalty. He would not trade Barty for anything. 

But did he need to?

Could he not have more than one friend? What would happen if he befriended Dorcas? Or Remus? Or Lily? Or Evan? 

Or James?

Nothing would separate him and Barty. There was no chance of them losing each other to something as petty as jealousy. Regulus would not allow it. They could have more friends. They could talk to others and go to dinner with them or try an escape room like him and Barty always talked about—an activity they only could not do because they knew it would be more fun in a group. 

“Who would like to host the chat?” Regulus said once the room went silent. 

“That sounds like an offer to me, love,” James said. When he smiled particularly widely his eyes scrunched up. Regulus’ heart gave a traitorous thump. 

What was happening to him?

“Excellent. Everyone who wishes to join, please give your contact information to Regulus. The meeting will end here today which is only thirty minutes earlier than usual for a first meet. These meetings will be held for ninety minutes, starting at seven in the evening every Wednesday. There are no specific plans for the next session, although after the third week I will begin setting some tasks or activities. These early sessions are for everyone to get comfortable and we may pick up a new member or two over the coming weeks. I have a former student of mine who I know will definitely be here next week.”

They exchanged vaguely curious looks. Regulus hoped this new guy would not throw off the dynamic. His thoughts were banished when McGonagall wished them well and suddenly every Mutant in the room was shuffling towards him. 

Flushing bright red, Regulus worked quickly to take down everyone’s numbers in his contacts list so he could add them all to the chat once he was finished. As he typed the last few in, he could see Evan hesitating on the outskirts of the group and he nudged Barty to go and talk to him. Shortly after Barty left, almost every number was in his phone except for Evan’s and James’. 

“Hello, there,” James said, swooping in after Peter walked away. The hall was mostly empty. McGonagall was in the corner taking a call, Lily and Mary were chatting by the coatrack while Evan and Barty were speaking quietly by the snack table. That left Regulus alone with James who was peering down at him with a devilish smirk. “You type very fast.”

“What an odd compliment,” he said. “Number?”

“Usually when people ask for my number they are nicer to me.”

“Why would I be anything but curt with the man who is responsible for the ache in my thumbs?”

James laid a hand over his heart. Regulus hated that he found himself marvelling at how large his hands were. The skin was so smooth. He wondered how soft they would feel held in his own. 

“You hurt my feelings, love. May I?” James held one of those lovely smooth palms out. Regulus placed his phone in his hand, letting his fingers brush over James’ skin. 

Just as soft as he thought. 

James added his number to Regulus’ contact list, a pleased little smile on his face. Their hands brushed again when he passed it back and goosebumps erupted up the length of his forearms all the way to the back of his neck. 

“You have a lovely mutation,” James said softly. “Invisibility is fascinating. Although, it’s sort of a shame. There’s no reason anyone as beautiful as you should ever be hidden from sight.” With that last remark, James walked away. Regulus’ eyes followed him all the way to the door where he called, “See you next week!” 

Stunned, Regulus hardly noticed when Barty and Evan appeared by his side. He stared past Evan’s shoulder at the closed doors of the hall. Was that a flirtation? Did James just flirt with him?

“Reg?”

Clearing his throat, Regulus smiled tightly at Evan. “Hello. Are you joining the group?”

Visibly less anxious than before, Evan nodded. “I think it will be good for me. My cousin sent me here to make friends. I guess I can’t do that if I shy away from everyone.”

“And Barty can be very convincing,” Regulus said knowingly as he handed his phone over to Evan. Since James already stole his phone once, he may as well save his thumbs the effort of adding Evan in too. 

“I certainly am,” Barty said, puffing his chest. 

Sensing McGonagall was finishing up her call, Regulus guided them towards the doors. As they stepped out of the village hall and into the car park, he could see some of the members hanging around. Dorcas and Marlene were chatting by a motorbike he was sure belonged to the latter. Remus, Mary, and Lily were gone but he could see Alice and Peter talking on their phones near the main road, occasionally smiling at each other. 

“Barty,” Evan said just before he went to walk to his car, “if you come to the next meeting with your tail out, I’ll stay in my natural form the whole time.” 

As Evan bustled towards a rather flashy Mercedes, Regulus turned to his best friend. 

“You want him.”

Barty wrapped an arm around his shoulders and sighed. “I do. Almost as badly as you want James.”

There was no chance to argue. Barty wrapped his other arm around Regulus’ waist and in a puff of smoke they left.