under the mistletoe || jegulus

eight

Regulus shot upwards from the bed and turned towards the voice, where he saw Remus Lupin, Sirius, and Peter Pettigrew staring at him, looking completely baffled. Regulus completely froze. He watched as Madam Pomfrey came out, probably to check on the other girl there and James.

"What's going on here? When did you five get here?" She asked, briskly going towards James' bed and folding her arms across her chest with quirked eyebrows.

James quickly sat up as he opened his mouth to speak, "Well, they just came to visit for a bit, Professor. Can we have ten minutes?"

Madam Pomfrey turned to him and considered it for a moment before slowly saying, "I suppose. Only ten minutes, though!"

She spun around, walked towards the girl's bed and shut the curtains immediately. James glanced at the petrified Regulus before turning towards Sirius, who also looked frozen to the spot. There was a tense silence.

Remus spoke first, "Why is Regulus here? It's, erm, dinner time,"

James cleared his throat awkwardly and started, "He just came to say sorry. That's all, I think. If you wanted to talk alone, I can ask him to go?"

"Please do," Sirius whispered; Regulus hurried out of the hospital wing, avoiding everyone's gaze. James trailed his eyes back to Sirius and just stared. That was their first encounter in about just a year.

"That was really awkward," Peter stated. He went up to James' bed and sat down, leading the other two to come by as well. Madam Pomfrey slid the curtains over and almost immediately slid them back closed and went towards her office, pretending like she didn't hear a thing.

"What was he doing here?" Sirius hissed angrily at James, who scooted away slightly, not liking the way Sirius was staring at him.

"He really just came to say sorry, and then you three came in," James responded honestly, rolling his eyes when Sirius gave him a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, earning a glare from all three other boys. "What?"

"You're being ridiculous, Padfoot, maybe he's not even lying," Peter and Remus said at the same time. James nodded in agreement and Sirius frowned.

"I didn't even do anything! You guys always side with him on everything," Sirius accused. Remus muttered something incoherent under his breath and Peter sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. James stayed silent, wanting to hear more.

"Why do you always say that during an argument?" Remus asked, standing up and staring at Sirius, who looked away and folded his arms across his chest.

"We shouldn't even be arguing right now, we only came to hang out with Prongs," Peter cut in.

"Exactly, Pete," Remus turned to Sirius and firmly said, "If you can't handle it, you can wait outside for us."

Sirius went back up to the three boys, "I can handle it. But, I think I have the right to be mad at my best mate talking to him of all people—"

"You can stop there. Anyways, how have you been feeling? Has your pain gotten any better?" Remus asked, sitting down in the chair next to James' bed, "I assume it still hurts,"

"Yeah, it has gotten better, though. But, erm, I can't feel my ankles anymore," James trailed off sheepishly as Remus and Peter stared at him, bewildered. Sirius choked back a gasp as he stared down at James.

"How will you get to the party? I mean, if you can't feel in your ankles," Peter added. He wondered what Lily would say if she found out James injured his ankles even more.

James replied thoughtfully, "I can create a copy of myself and give her that instead,"

Remus snorted, "I know Lily, and she won't appreciate that very much if she found out,"