just lovers like we were supposed to be

ACT THREE: Part Four

Chapter Notes
warnings for this chapter: a little bit of trauma talk from the events of the drowning chapter (as well as what happened to barty), boys being a little dumb, and james making up for the "lily was all i ever wanted" comment <3
See the end of the chapter for more notes

"Reggie," Sirius hisses.

Jumping, Regulus whips his head towards the side, arching an eyebrow at the sight of Sirius lurking around the corner, glancing around furtively like he's worried someone might notice him.
No one will. No one's even here.

"What are you doing?" Regulus asks suspiciously, eyes narrowing as he moves towards Sirius, a touch warily. If this is one of his fucking pranks…

"I'm walking you to your dorm," Sirius mutters, still darting his gaze around. "First day back out, people are bound to be awful. I just want to make sure you get there, and Barty already agreed to wait outside for you."

"Alright," Regulus says slowly. He leans back, flicking his gaze over Sirius, his eyes narrowing yet again. Sirius glances at him, leaning back as well and looking defensive. He tugs at a strand of his hair and can't seem to be still. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Sirius blurts out, the whites of his eyes showing like an animal caught in a trap. "What are you on about? I didn't do anything. Why? Do I—fuck, do I look different?"

Regulus raises his eyebrows. "No, you look as ridiculous as always, but you're acting more stupid than usual."

"Bugger off," Sirius snaps. "I'm not, yeah? I'm—I'm being very normal. I'm acting as I always do."

"Oh, you've done something, alright," Regulus says flatly, cocking his head and staring harder. He glances over him again, slower this time, looking for any sign of what it is. Sirius fidgets under the scrutiny, scowling, and there. Oh. Right there just peeking out of his collar, only just, a mark.
Regulus' gaze snaps up, watching a flush rise to Sirius' cheeks as he averts his eyes. "You shagged Lupin?"

Sirius' eyes dart back to him. "How did you know it was him?"

"Because you're rather pathetically in love with him?" Regulus replies, and Sirius groans as he hangs his head forward, turning slightly to press it into the stone wall.

"Did everyone know before me?" Sirius whines.

Unsympathetic, Regulus says, "Think so, yeah. Well, maybe not Remus. He seemed willfully ignorant to the whole thing."

"With good reason," Sirius whispers, gently banging his head against the wall. "My fucking patronus is the same as his."

"That can happen?"

"Apparently so. Apparently, when you're in love with someone, or perhaps have an unhealthy infatuation with them, you will find your patronus forming into theirs, so a word to the wise, don't go about casting the charm around someone you fall in love with if you don't want them to know."

"Noted," Regulus mumbles and does, in fact, make a mental note to not do that. "Wait, why didn't you want him to know?"

Sirius rolls his head to stare at him. "Well, honestly, I didn't really know. How was I to know? He's —I mean, he's Moony. He's one of my best friends. He's just… I don't know. I sort of thought everyone looked at him and felt… And, well, I thought I was jealous of him, really, because he's so bloody amazing, and that's why I bickered with him so much, but I—oh, I'm fucking mental about him. This is so bad. This is—"

"It's painful talking to you sometimes, you know," Regulus drawls, and he'd probably keep going and be even worse, but Sirius looks genuinely miserable. Rather ridiculously, it does tug at
Regulus' heartstrings, and also makes him roll his eyes. "I don't understand. What's the problem?" "Regulus, I just shagged my best friend," Sirius hisses, his nostrils flaring. "Last night. A lot. Many times, in many various, unfortunately amazing ways." He makes a small sound like he might start crying. "There are—oh gods, there are so many ways, Reggie. So many that are so good. I didn't
—"