Smile When You Dive In

Chapter 10

All around the Quidditch pitch, daffodils lined the freshly cut grass. Regulus had never paid them much attention before, but the warm light of the rising sun painted them in a way that he had to admit was pretty. The bright flowers stood tall with orange trumpets reaching up to announce the new day. Especially after a day holed up in the Slytherin dorm, being outside on that spring morning felt like a breath of fresh air in more than one way. He could see why James was known for coming down to practice so early if this was the view he was rewarded with, if only for the brief time he was alone. At home, the sun wasn't visible until it had risen past the houses across from Grimmauld Place, so Regulus had never really bothered to watch the sky changing colour, had never looked down to the ground to take in the day's dew. He wondered what the sunrise looked like from the bedroom he assumed his brother now shared with James at the Potters'. Did they have a good view, and watch it during the early summer mornings they spent together?

By the time James showed up, Regulus had moved himself three times. At first, he waited in the changing room where nobody would see them, should they happen to pass by the pitch. Then he worried that James wouldn't see him right away and would leave, so he moved to the stands. That felt wrong though, even if he couldn't explain why. After the stands, Regulus stood by the entrance to the pitch, but watching out for James' arrival made him feel crazier than he already deemed himself lately. In the end, he sat out on the grass after charming it so that the dewy grass wouldn't stain his robes. Then Regulus questioned whether he should have brought his broom with him, but ultimately decided it was too late to run back to the castle for it.

To say that Regulus was fraught with nerves would be an understatement. Kissing James Potter had seemed like the appropriate course of action for the better part of six hours. After all, it had been Potter's fault. He told Regulus that he had thought about kissing him, and then expected him to just go about his life with that piece of information floating around in the aether. Regulus was punctuating a sentence that Potter had started, that was all. That was, until he spent the day with no company but his own, and the realisation dawned on him that he had kissed James Potter. As soon as James' note had arrived, he regretted his actions. He would have to see James again, and then he would probably say something. No matter what that something was, it was going to be unbearable.

If Potter showed up and complained about Regulus kissing him, Regulus would end up getting into yet another confrontation with him. It was only fair to give him a piece of his mind, since he was the one who started the whole mess. Yet if James arrived and didn't complain about Regulus kissing him, well then the whole saga would continue and Regulus would likely never know peace. Deciding that all of the options were terrible, Regulus borrowed some of his brother's arrogance, laying back in the grass and closing his eyes. Perhaps if he feigned indifference, the encounter would be short and uneventful, more bearable that way.

"Bit early in the year for sunbathing, isn't it?" James' voice was close to him when he finally heard it, and he listened carefully as the other began making himself comfortable on the grass.

"Bit early in the morning for this, isn't it?" He murmured without opening his eyes, and James laughed.

"Could've done it yesterday if you hadn't been hiding from me."

"I wasn't hiding from you." Regulus cracked open one eye to look at him, hoping he sounded sufficiently outraged at the suggestion. "Just had a... bad day, is all." Well, that was a ridiculous thing to have said. The moment it escaped his lips, Regulus cringed. Potter, who had by this time also laid down, turned onto his side to face Regulus. Regulus noticed that he hadn't charmed the grass where he lay, with a dampness forming on his school shirt.

"Why did you have a bad day?" He sounded genuinely interested, and that threw Regulus.

"We're not friends, Potter."