THE SCARS ON MY BODY ● JEGULUS |MARAUDERS|

✰EIGHTEEN✰

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✰ Of course,

dear Reggie,

it was

my idea ✰

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"We did it boys, we did it." Sirius grinned, falling backwards on to his bed. James did the same, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"I'm so tired." Peter whined, taking off his shoes. They all groaned as Remus opened the curtains, morning light blinding them all. The Marauders had been up all night, setting up the prank they had been working on.

"It will be worth it though." Remus said as he moved towards the bathroom, "I'm going to shower and then we can all go to breakfast, yeah?"

While Remus showered, the other three boys changed into their school robes and prepared their books.

"What day is it?" Pete questioned, yawning.

"Monday, Wormtail." Sirius replied with a laugh.

"Right." Once they were all ready, the group made their way down to the Great hall, each sitting in their usual places. It was about 7am so the only other people at breakfast were a couple of Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff.

"This is going to be so good." Padfoot said, filling his plate with a bunch of food.

"Mhm, I can't wait." James added, "Everyone remember the spell?" They all nodded.

"You remember what you've got to do after, Moonbeam?" Pads asked, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, I know. Ooo, here they come!" A group of about nine Slytherins made their way into the hall, 5th years and 6th years. Originally, they were only going to prank the 6th years but their little encounter with Regulus had changed their minds.

Each of them pulled their wands out from their robes and held them under the table. They waited for the rest of the students to come in before casting the charms.

All of a sudden, the hall erupted into a wave of laughter and screams as the Slytherins' hair turned bright, neon orange. Red was the colour they had originally wanted to use, but Peter's father could only find orange, so they had worked with it.

James searched the table for the one person he was desperate to prank - Regulus. Sat at the end of the table was a small, humiliated looking boy, staring right at him.

"You said you wouldn't." Reg mouthed, anger clear in his expression. Oh, no. He hadn't meant to upset him, he'd thought he would have found it funny. Apparently not.

"I'm sorry, I-" But before he could finish mouthing his reply, the orange haired boy stormed out of the hall. Without thinking, James jumped up and ran after him.

"Prongs? Where you going, mate? James!"

"Reggie! Wait up! Reggie, please! Wait!" He'd lost him, he was nowhere to be seen. Not wanting to give up, James continued to run down the corridors in search for the young Black.

A small snuffling sound came from around one of the corners James was passing by. Deciding to check it out, he turned and squeezed past a large pillar. Down on the floor, back against the pillar, was Regulus. He had his legs pulled up to his chest and his head between his knees, very obviously crying.

"Reggie?"

"Go away." He croaked in reply. James pulled out his wand and put Reg's hair back to its usual, perfect black before seating himself down beside him.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. He hated seeing Reg cry, it was a horrible sight.

"I said go away!"

"Fine." He snapped, standing up and walking off. He was about half way down the corridor when he paused and looked back.

"Wait, come back. Stay, please." Regulus was stood by the pillar, hands in his pockets and his hair an utter mess. He looked so small, so precious. James felt a weird need to protect him.

***

James closed the book, realising that Reg had fallen asleep on his shoulder whilst he was reading. He looked out over the lake, glad that there were no Astronomy classes up in the tower that day.

Reggie hadn't forgiven him exactly, but he wasn't as mad as he was before. Secretly, James thought Regulus had looked rather adorable with orange hair but hey, what can you do?

He jolted awake as the clock tower sounded, informing them that it was midday.

"Hello, sleepyhead." James cooed, one side of his lips turning up at how cute he looked with his dark, wavy hair. He reached his hand up and tucked a loose strand behind his ear.

"We've missed all morning classes." Regulus pointed out, stuffing his head into the crease of James' shoulder. James blushed, therefore hiding his face in the Slytherin's hair so that he wouldn't notice how red he had become. The older of the two hummed in acknowledgement, taking a deep breath.

"Your hair smells nice." He muttered, causing Regulus to laugh quietly. "Sorry, that was a bit random."

"It was a rather odd statement, yes."

"We goin' t' lunch?" James asked, so quiet that it was almost impossible to hear. He was still incredibly tired from being up all night, he could barely speak.

"Sure, unless you don't want to." He raised his head from Reg's hair and stood up, holding out his hand.

"C'mon, you mus' be starvin'." He mumbled between a few yawns.

"Yeah, alright." He took James' hand, pulling himself to his feet. "How much did you sleep last night?"

"Not a' all." He grumbled, shoving Romeo and Juliet into Reggie's bag as they walked down the corridor.

"Oh yes, how could I forget. You were up all night pranking half of my house." James chuckled and nodded.

The pair made their way down to the Great hall, James carrying both his and Regulus' bags like the gentleman he was-

"I can carry my own bag."

"I know you can, but I'm going to carry it for you like the gentleman I am."

- After around 20 minutes they had managed to get all the way down the many Astronomy tower steps, along the many Hogwarts corridors, into the the Great hall. Reg stopped in his tracks just as he stepped through the door.

All of the 5th and 6th year Slytherins were running around the hall. They no longer had orange hair but on their backs were signs reading things like, 'I smell like owl shit' and, 'Kick me if you like blueberry muffins' (because according to Sirius Black, everyone liked blueberry muffins so therefore everyone would kick them. James hated blueberries, but he'd never tell him that, he didn't have a death wish) one of his favourites was 'Can I borrow some of your conditioner, Malfoy?' of which was charmed on to the back of the one and only Severus Snape.

"I'm guessing you had something to do with this?" Regulus asked, turning to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, dear Reggie, it was my idea." He smirked wickedly and dropped the bag on the floor before running off in the direction of his friends, leaving behind a giggling Regulus Black. God, his giggle.

_____________________

✰ Of course,

dear Reggie,

it was

my idea ✰

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