One of Us | Jegulus

Fourty-Two

They were swallowed by the darkness and a sudden, deafening silence.
And then the cold air of the night hit him in the face. He raised his head and stared at the welcoming entrance of the too familiar house but there was no time to think. Still completely panicking, he dragged James forward and slammed his fists against the door.
"Please!" he cried desperately and pulled James tight again.

The door opened.
"Wha—Regulus?!"
He looked up and found his brother staring down at him, at a loss of words. Then Sirius spotted his best friend. "Oh my god—"
"Help me!" Regulus begged and Sirius rushed forwards, lifting James' body up and carrying him inside. "Remus!" he called, his voice tensed.
Completely overwhelmed, Regulus scrambled up and followed Sirius into the house, watching helplessly as he put down James on the couch in the living room.
He rushed forward and kneeled in front of the couch.

In this moment Remus entered the room. He stared at the scene before him. "What the hell happened?!"
"I don't know, he was hit, I don't know what it was, or who..." Regulus grasped James' hand and clung to it.
"What the hell did you do?!" Sirius exclaimed exasperatedly and stared down at his best friend while Remus started to cast spells over his body.
"Nothing, I—I didn't even want to be there, she forced me—"
"Bellatrix?" Sirius asked with a disgusted expression on his face.
Regulus nodded.

"I think he's alright," Remus interrupted them and exhaled shakily. "He's alive, at least and I cannot find anything too threatening."
"Oh my god," Regulus whispered and closed his eyes, even the last remaining strength now left his body.
"You fucking idiot!" Sirius said, staring at his brother now.
"I'm so sorry," he just responded weakly.
"I don't even understand, James just went out for a normal shift, what—how—"
"I'm sorry," Regulus repeated. "They found out... he found out where you are... A safe house or whatever. They—we—went there and..." he broke off, ashamed.

"Fuck!" Sirius shouted and started pacing the room. "And now? The fight is over or what? Who, I mean is anyone, I mean—"
"I don't know," Regulus muttered. "I'm pretty sure they're still fighting, I just found James and left."
"Shit!" Sirius exclaimed. "We have to go there! They'll need our help!"
"No, it was too dangerous!" Regulus said desperately.
"I don't give a fuck?! I—Moony—"
Remus, who was still casting some healing spells on James, finally looked up. "Of course we have to help him but..." He looked at Regulus and then back at Sirius. "What about him? And what about James, what if something happens?!"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Sirius ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know, can't we just lock him up again, or—"
"Hey!" Regulus interrupted angrily. "Not that again, you idiot!"
"Shut up, I don't know what to do with you!" Sirius answered in the same tone. "Obviously we cannot trust you! I haven't forgotten what you did and I really don't know why the hell you suddenly show up again and—"
"Huh, I didn't came here because of you, I'm here because of James or he would have died!"
"So, suddenly you care about that?!"
"Excuse me, I always cared about James—"
"Yeah," Sirius spat. "About that—"

"My god, shut up, both of you!" Remus bellowed. "You fucking stubborn idiots, you can fight another time, how about we put our energy in the decision of what we do now?!"
Sirius exhaled shakily. "You're right. Fuck. What do you suggest?"

Remus glared at Regulus and seemed to contemplate. Then he sighed. "We both should go. Who knows how bad it is. We cannot just stay here. Your brother can stay here. Or run off again, I really don't care. James will recover, I'm sure about that. Now what he needs is rest. Our priority should be to help our friends."
Sirius sighed. "You're always have to be right, hm?"

He turned to Regulus.
"You really hurt him, do you know that?" he said bluntly. Then he turned around and both of them left the room, only seconds later the front door fell closed and they were gone.