i really loved him

chapter 12

James POV

Friday, 28th June, 13:40 – James watched, speechless, as Regulus snatched up his book, turned on his heel and left his attackers writhing helplessly on the ground. The young Slytherin had taken on three opponents at once and beat them with a single curse. He had previously been aware of Regulus' talent, but that was something else entirely.

"Woah," Peter whispered from beside him. "How did he..."

"No idea," James murmured, shaking his head in astonishment.

Sirius still stood a few metres ahead, and suddenly whirled around to face them with a completely bewildered expression.

"Did you lot see that?" he yelped, gesturing to where a crowd of snickering onlookers was growing larger by the minute. "That was my fucking brother!"

"Yeah, we saw it," James grinned. "He was bloody brilliant."

"What did they say to him?" Remus said thoughtfully, as Sirius wandered back towards them. "He looked really angry."

"I would be too, if three ugly gits interrupted my nap," Sirius snorted. "Good for Reg. It's about time he got into a good old duel, even if it lasted about three seconds."

James didn't feel he should bring up how close Sirius had been to interfering just a few minutes before.

"Oi, Moony, everything ready for later?" Sirius asked.

"Yup," Remus confirmed. "Well, almost. I've got the right incantation; we just need to enchant the frisbees before the feast."

"Great. Let's go, then."

So, the Marauders made their way back into the castle to prepare for their final stunt of the year.

Saturday, 29th June, 11:23 – The prank was a raging success. Remus had figured out how to charm James' giant birthday collection of fanged frisbees so that they flew around unaided. At the Leavers' Feast that night, they had released twenty vicious frisbees to zoom all around the hall and bite other students. Slytherins, specifically; they still didn't know how Remus managed that part.

Now, they were on board the Hogwarts Express on the way home for summer. James was wandering back to his carriage, pockets bulging with trolley snacks, when he passed an almost empty compartment. It was occupied only by Regulus, who perched in the corner and stared out the window.

James tapped the window, then slid open the door and leant against the glass frame.

"Alright, Reggie?" he grinned. Regulus turned to face him, stone-faced.

"Don't call me that," he said, though without the usual snippy, irritated edge that James was used to. He oddly missed it.

"Didn't see you at the feast yesterday," James noted.

"That's because I wasn't there."

"Why? You missed a bloody good prank, even if I do say so myself."

Regulus said nothing at first, just looked at him with those stormy grey eyes.

"Why are you here, Potter?" he asked quietly. His tone took James by surprise again; the haughty exasperation that tended to lace his voice was hardly there at all. Instead, he just sounded tired. And a bit sad.

"Thought you might like some company," James shrugged. "Frog?"

He tossed a chocolate frog into Regulus' lap.

"Oh! By the way," he added eagerly. "Forgot to show you."

He rummaged around in his brimming pockets, pulling out the same golden snitch he'd caught almost exactly a month ago. It didn't struggle, but lay cold and motionless in his hand.