Sweet innocence ~ Jegulus

41

The hospital wing was mostly empty with the exception of the Marauders. Remus was half asleep, bandages wrapped tightly around his torso. Sirius was trying to feed him some pudding, worried that if the werewolf didn't eat he'd pass out. Peter was fast asleep in the armchair by Remus's bed and James was busying himself by doing Remus' coursework.

The door to the hospital wing opened, causing all of their heads to snap in that direction. Regulus paused, eyes widening at the three pairs of eyes on him. It was foolish of him to think that James and Sirius would have been in class.

"What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need Pomfrey?" Sirius asked, jumping up from Remus's side. Regulus looked at his brother just long enough to shake his head.

"I came to see Remus. The full moon was last night."

Sirius deflated, slumping back into Remus's bed with a small grin. "Oh, how nice of you." He replied. Regulus rolled his eyes, walking over cautiously, making a point of ignoring James's gaze on him.

"I hope the moon treated you nicely." Regulus mumbled, moving to Remus' side. The older boy laughed, a hoarse, choked sound. Regulus held out his palm, revealing a chocolate frog. "I didn't have any of that muggle stuff that you like, I hope that this is okay." The Slytherin whispered, a bit shyly.

Remus smiled, raising a shaky hand to take the chocolate. "It's fine, thank you." He replied.

"Reg?" James said, coming up behind the younger boy. Regulus held his breath, clenching his eyes shut as the Gryffindor touched his shoulder. "Can I talk to you?" James asked, turning Regulus around.

"I'm not supposed to-"

"Your mum isn't here." James reminded him, giving Regulus a pleading look. Regulus sighed, lowering his eyes to the floor. "Fine, but only for a minute." He muttered, walking past James. The older boy followed him to the other side of the hospital room, playing with his hair nervously.

"I miss you." James whispered, closing the curtains around them to have some sense of privacy. Regulus doesn't reply. "Sirius and I have been talking. We want you to come live with us." James said. Regulus looked up at him, eyes wide. "I- I can't, you know that."

"We've already planned it all. You'll come home with us at the end of the year, we'll used the invisibility cloak on you so that your mum can't get to you and you'll come with us back to our house. My parents won't mind, I've already written to them about you, they love you, Reg. They want you to come live with us. We'll keep you safe."

"And what happens when my mum figures out where I am and comes to murder us all? What then? She won't let me go so easily, James." Regulus snapped. James' face fell into a deep frown and the younger boy sighed. "Look, I love you and I love that you're trying to save me or whatever, but some things are out of our control. My mother is a dark witch, she knows spells that even protection charms are useless against."

James sighed. "We'll figure it out." He replied.

"Please, for your own safety and the safety of the people you love, just please stop trying to get me away from my family. She's a control freak, my mum. She'll destroy anything that gets in her way. And she isn't above murder. I've seen her use Avada before—"

"You what?"

"My point is, she'll kill you and Sirius. And I don't want that. Please, just leave this alone."

"I don't think that I can." James admitted quietly.

"Can you just trust me when I say that I'll get out of there myself, on my own terms?" Regulus said, placing a hand on James' arm. "I may not be able to come live with you, but I know a place that even she won't be able to reach." Regulus mumbled, squeezing James' arm.

"Promise me that you'll get yourself out?" James asked, sticking out his pinky. Regulus stared at the outstretched finger for a beat, blinking dumbly. Slowly and reluctantly, he nodded, wrapping his finger around James's.

"I promise."

"Can you tell me where you're going? I'd feel a lot better knowing." James whispered.

"I can't, sorry."

James frowned.

"It's not that I don't want you to know. It's just that I made a promise to someone I love a long time ago, never to tell anyone where the place is. But you have my word, it's the safest place for me." Regulus said.

"How will I know that your safe if I don't know where you'll be?" James asked.

"When the time comes, I'll owl you." Regulus answered simply.

~
Notes:
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with exams and work. I'll try to write a long chapter tomorrow 😞