December 10th, 1977
11:57 pm.
James didn't let go of Regulus until they reached shore, just in case he decided to do something stupid again.
“You're drunk,” James pointed out seeing his dilated pupils, rosy cheeks and awkward movements, “Have you eaten anything?”
Regulus shook his head.
“And can you tell me what you were thinking when you decided to drink a bottle of Pepperup Elixir by yourself on an empty stomach? Don't you know you can't drink on an empty stomach?”
“My goal was to fall unconscious; that was the easiest way.”
“Your goal is to fall unconscious and you end up dying at sixteen from an alcoholic coma.”
“Don't tempt me.”
James shot a glance at Regulus as they climbed out of the water and made their way to shore. They stood facing the lake, drenched from head to toe. James accio-ed his glasses with a wave of his wand, and shot Regulus a sideways glance, once he realized that he was keeping his eyes on him. “What?”
“I don't have a wand,” Regulus whispered.
James nodded. “Right.” He accio-ed Regulus's things as well.
Regulus bent down to pick up his wand and put it in his pocket. He clumsily put on his shoes and grabbed the bottle by the neck, carrying it with him; then, he grabbed the packet of tobacco, taking out a cigarette and lighting it, blowing a good amount of smoke into the night sky.
“You smoke?” James asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Occasionally.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I know.”
James shot a glance at the black lake as Regulus interspersed a drag with a swig from the bottle. “Why did you do that?” James asked, “The lake, why the hell did you jump into the lake. It was stupid.”
Regulus shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt dirty.”
“How can you not know?”
“Not knowing.”
James shook his head incredulously. “You are unbelievable.” Regulus shrugged again, taking another sip from the bottle. “Oh my god,” James muttered, reaching out and dragging the bottle from Regulus's lips, causing some of the liquid to drip onto Regulus's clothing, “No more bad decisions for today.”
“Hey!” Regulus exclaimed. “Give me that!”
Regulus reached out and took a step toward James to rip the bottle from his hands, but when he was about to brush his fingers over it, James made it disappear with a wave of his wand, causing Regulus to fall forward.
James grabbed him with one arm and held him so he wouldn't lose his balance. Regulus raised his head and, with vacant eyes, shot James a withering look. “I still hadn't-”
“No more bad decisions for today,” James repeated sternly. He helped Regulus stabilize himself again, “Let's get you something to eat.”
“I'm not hungry,” Regulus sighed. “If I eat something I'm going to vomit.”
“You should do that too,” James said dryly. “You're soaked, let's go in, if not you're going to get sick.”
“You're soaked too,” Regulus pointed out, letting James grab his wrist and drag him toward the castle.
James shot Regulus a sideways glance, “So?”
Regulus shrugged, “You can get sick too,” he said, walking awkwardly behind James, “Wait.”
