One of Us | Jegulus

Thirty

Even Regulus felt the consequences of the spy situation in the order. These days Sirius and James left the house earlier and returned later, leaving Regulus behind to wait and worry more and more. Peter and Remus on the other hand seemed to become less invested in the order, proving to Regulus that there must be a hierarchy in the order and that Sirius and James were significantly more important than their two friends. He also suspected that this was directly connected to the discovery of the spy—the order didn't trust them and now kept them out of most of their businesses.

Peter still had his job at the ministry that kept him busy but Remus simply spent more time lurking around the house—just like Regulus and very much to his disliking.
So he found himself spending most of his time in his room, hoping for the time to pass quickly until James returned. He even missed Sirius. But his boredom was nothing compared to what his brother and James seemed to endure these days. Even though he frequently asked James for any information, he wouldn't find out anything. That the two of them were slowly getting overworked though, was hard to miss.

So even in the few hours he was able to see James, they couldn't actually spend time together because there was rarely a minute James wasn't exhausted and needed to rest. They still found comfort in each other in the nights, but it hurt Regulus to experience James in this state, unable to help and take some of the pressure off him. It was unbearable to be left in the dark.

It was more than two weeks later that James was able to spend an entire afternoon at home again.
And today, another couple days later, was only the second time in a while that they would get off early. Regulus desperately hoped to get some of James' time and attention this evening and therefore couldn't wait for the day to pass by. He killed the time by reading in his room, confident that James would visit him as soon as he returns. Also, waiting downstairs in wasn't an option either since he didn't even know when to expect his return and he didn't want to spend that indefinite time in unwanted company.

When the evening finally came by, he started to hear some sounds from downstairs that slowly grew louder.
Irritated by this, he put his book down, stood up, and opened his door a bit. Paranoid these days, he peeked out and after listening for some moments he decided that there wasn't any threat expecting him downstairs.
So he left the room and followed the noise that was coming from the living room.

Turning around the corner he found Sirius, Remus, and James lounging at the floor, laughing. James immediately raised his head when Regulus stood in the doorway and jumped up.
"Reggie!" he grinned and rushed over to him, pulling him into the middle of the room. "I missed you so so much!"

"I was just upstairs, not exactly hard to find," Regulus replied and shrugged. James slumped down again and dragged Regulus with him. "I don't care. Still missed you," he grumbled and tried to pull Regulus close. Regulus shrugged him off though, quickly glancing at Sirius and Remus, who fortunately weren't looking at that moment. He inspected James again, "Are you drunk?"

"Not yet," James smirked and snatched a bottle Regulus just noticed by now, passing it on to Regulus. "But you need to catch up!"
"What? I didn't came here to drink, I just wanted to see what's going on. Why are you even drinking in the first place?"
"Padfoot borrowed this beautiful, beautiful stuff from the headquarters. No idea what it is but it's amazing."
Regulus raised his eyebrows. "Borrowed you say?"
"Yep," James grinned and raised the bottle, pressing it to Regulus' lips.

Regulus gripped James' wrist. "That's peer pressure," he complained. James chuckled and took a sip himself before he pushed it back against Regulus' mouth.
"Alright, alright," Regulus smiled and drank a bit, just to watch the charming smile reappear on James' face.
"Oh Merlin, thats..." he choked, startled by the intense effect it immediately had on him.
"Right?" James grinned. "I needed this. Work is absolutely exhausting at the moment."
"I noticed," muttered Regulus and took the bottle into his own hand, taking another sip, this time prepared for the burning sensation.