i really loved him

chapter 22

February/March – Nothing much changed over the next couple of months. James worked his team harder than ever at the weekends whilst fitting in as many sessions with Regulus as he could, wandered the empty halls at night with the Marauders to gradually build on the map, and generally spent the rest of his limited free time hexing Slytherins or planning pranks.

Actual schoolwork hardly came into the equation. Now that he and Sirius had the mirrors, detentions were a breeze; even in separate rooms they could have a laugh whilst writing lines. And it was worth it, to spend time doing fun stuff like blowing up desks (they had Marlene to thank for that idea) instead of writing essays on Giant Wars.

Sirius and Regulus remained doggedly separate, though James did manage to drag an awkward apology from each of them for how the last interaction went, so he considered that a win.

He even found that Regulus was becoming more inclined to speak to him about stuff, in their brief conversations on either side of practice. Nothing heavy, and almost always lacking in detail, but it was nice. It felt like they were proper friends rather than just opponents and training partners.

Once, they had been sitting on the grass for a break beneath an unusually golden February sun and chucking the immobilised snitch back and forth when it was Regulus who broke the silence. That didn't happen often.

"Yes, I did," he said.

No context, no follow-up. Trust Reggie.

"Huh?" James frowned.

"You asked if I ever played quidditch with Sirius," Regulus replied simply, and tossed the gleaming snitch into his hand. "I did."

It took a moment for James to catch up. When he did, his face broke into a broad grin. Perhaps an overly pleased one at that, for this was the hesitant response to a question he had asked over four months ago. But it was something.

"Alright, how the bloody hell was I s'posed to know that was what you were talking about?" James laughed. "'Yes I did' could literally mean anything, weirdo!"

Regulus said nothing to that, just smiled briefly then stood up, all business once more.

"Enough rest," he announced. "Let's play."

"Now you're talking," James smirked back, bouncing to his feet and sending the snitch whizzing into the bright winter air with a tap of his wand.

No more words were needed after that, for they were busy soaring towards the sky.

Regulus POV

Monday, 8th March, 17:31 – It took them longer than usual to find the snitch that day. Regulus had been intending to catch it promptly then spend the rest of the evening in the library. All of the recent training had greatly hindered his schoolwork, of which there was a lot of at the moment. He wasn't behind on anything, as such, but rather less ahead than usual. And that unsettled him.

In the end, it was James who caught it; so far, nothing was going to plan. Regulus suspected he was distracted by the time slipping away as he and James darted around the stadium for almost two hours with no glint of gold in sight. He resolved then to complete every essay and homework set immediately between now and the Slytherin-Gryffindor match, knowing he couldn't afford to lose focus on the day.

When Regulus lowered back down to the grass and dismounted his broom, James was quick to follow.

"Oi, where're you going?" he demanded, hovering alongside him as we walked. "Our game's in a week, y'know."

"I'm aware," Regulus said with a smile, still headed for the changing rooms.

James swerved around in front, so he was forced to stop, and hopped gracefully off his broom.