One of Us | Jegulus

Fourty-Five

When Regulus finally gathered the strength to get up and walk out of the kitchen, Peter left the living room again, walking to the front door.

Regulus immediately panicked. Did he do something to them?!
In the next second though, James followed him and smiled unknowingly.
"I wish you could stay longer, Pete," he commented and leaned against the wall.
"I'm sorry. You know, my mum."
"Of course!" James said quickly and nodded. "Say hi to her from me!"
"I will!" Peter promised and Regulus watched helplessly as he walked out of the door.

Now James turned his attention to him and his eyes widened immediately.
"Oh my god, are you alright?!"
"Sure," Regulus mumbled and bit his lip to suppress any sign of the chaos that was going on inside him right now.
"I don't believe you," James stated and walked over to him. "You look... wow I'd even say distraught, did anything happen?!"
"No..." Regulus lied and tried to hide his trembling. He looked up at James and almost lost it when he suddenly realised in what grave danger James was. And he had no idea...

"I'm so sorry," Regulus whispered and stepped forward, hiding his face in James' shoulder.
"My god," James mumbled and quickly wrapped his arms around Regulus. "What are you apologising for? Everything is alright, I promise."

"Can we just go upstairs?" Regulus asked in a weak voice.
"It's only early evening, are you sure? You're really making me worried, Reg."
"I know, it's just... please. I want to go to bed. You can stay here, of course. Don't want to ruin your night."
"Bold of you to assume that I'm leaving your side in this state of yours," James said determinedly and gently let go off the hug. He pulled Regulus to the door of the living room.

"I'm sorry you two, Reg isn't feeling very well so we're calling it a night."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "We? Last time I checked your bodies weren't attached."
"I just don't want to leave him alone, Pads, okay?"
"Mhhh," Sirius grunted and scowled. "You're testing me, dear. Watch yourself."

"Sorry about him," James sighed when they started walking upstairs.
"I'm used to it," Regulus mumbled. He couldn't care less at the moment.
They walked over the threshold and James closed the door behind them.

"Let's sit down," he suggested and walked over to the bed. Regulus sat down next to him, his feet on the ground, staring ahead.
"You've been different the entire evening," James mentioned. "And now you're all over the place. Something's up, so let me help you."
He looked at Regulus, waiting for him to talk.

Peter is the spy, he thought. Peter is the spy. Peter is the spy.
But he couldn't tell James. He didn't manage to say it out loud. He was terrified. Peter had threatened to expose him, to kill James and Sirius and Remus, and there was no doubt the Dark Lord would kill him too... and it probably would be a horrible, slow and painful death as a punishment for his betrayal.

Was Peter bluffing? If they just caught him the next time he would visit, there would be nothing he could do, right? In the hands of the order he wouldn't be able to report back to the Dark Lord...
But what if they have a different kind of communication? The Dark Lord must have taken some precautions for when his spy gets exposed, right?! He wouldn't just put his entire death eater army and himself in such a risk. The Dark Lord was always two steps ahead of the order, Regulus knew that.
He just couldn't risk all their lives like that.

"Hey," James said in a soft voice when Regulus remained silent. "Talk to me, you can trust me."
"I trust you," Regulus assured. "More than anybody else."
"Then tell me what is wrong, maybe I can help!"
Regulus shook his head. "You can't... I'm just... I just cannot think of a way how we're gonna survive this war."
"Don't say that. We'll be fine, I pro—"
"No!" Regulus exclaimed. "You cannot promise something like that. You don't know how this war will end, no more than I do."
"You're right," James admitted. "But I'm not giving up and I'm doing everything in my powers to keep us safe."
"But so much isn't in your control!" He swallowed hard. "The spy—" he choked. "You have no idea—"
"We'll find them!" James declared determined. "It's only a matter of time, they cannot hide forever."
"I don't think so," Regulus mumbled. He thought about how blindly James trusted his friends. How we would protect them at all costs. Even if someone within the order started suspecting Peter, James would refuse to believe it. It was hopeless.
"Why—Regulus, do you know anything?" James asked and observed him, frowning.
Regulus pressed his lips together and shook his head.