Running in the dark

Chapter 37

James had been waiting in the dungeons for Regulus to come out for a good twenty minutes when he was spoken to.

"If it isn't Potter," sneered a voice and he looked round to see Snape, it was just the two of them in the dimly lit hallway.

"Are you waiting for Black?" He asked smirking.

"Mind your business Snivellus," James snapped back, talking to Snape was not something he planned to do today or any day.

"I'm surprised you're dating him, Potter, it's only a matter of time before he realizes the filth you are," Snape said, he was enjoying taunting James like this, knowing how it would irritate him.

The portrait door opened and Snape walked passed James as Regulus walked towards him.

"Was he talking to you?" Regulus asked with a sharpness to his voice.

"Yeah, but it was nothing, let's go to dinner," James said and he began to walk with Regulus.

Regulus knew it wasn't nothing, last time Snape had spoken to James was when he found out about them because of the veritaserum and James had broken down. Regulus was sure Snape would not blink an eye about holding that over James.

But James never liked to be worried about, he was stubborn like that and it irritated Regulus that James wouldn't admit when he was hurt, he always wanted to be there for the others, never expecting to have them there for him.

"It's best that I tell you this before you hear it from someone else, I'm dating Xenophilius," Pandora said sitting down opposite Regulus at the Gryffindor table.

"He's the strange one, the one who asks the weird questions?" Regulus asked and Pandora sighed but nodded before continuing.

"He's nice though, and funny and he's understanding, so don't do anything alright," she said and he agreed to not do anything.

"You have that look," Remus said biting into a slice of carrot cake.

"What look?" Regulus asked, Remus lupin was rather good at reading people and it got on Regulus' nerves from time to time.

"That look that says you are going to do something," Remus replied with a smile, he was right and he knew it.

"I don't know what you're on about Lupin, but I've got to go talk to Evan and Barty, I'll see you guys later," he said before standing up and making his way across the hall to his other two friends before explaining the plan that he had already made in a matter of seconds.

Xenophilius was in the same year as Regulus and had even sat next to him in a few classes over the years, but Regulus had barely ever batted an eye at his, so he was rather surprised when Regulus, Barty and Evan stopped him on his way to the common room after dinner.

"Hey Xenophilius, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of talking to you, I'm Regulus, this is Barty and this is Evan," Regulus said, it was calm but in no way kind.

"Hi," Xenophilius replied, the whole situation was rather random and he found himself feeling uncomfortable.

"I think I'll get straight to the point here, you see Rosier," he said pointing at Evan who gave him a wave.

"Rosier here will beat you up if you're rude to Pandora, and you see Crouch," he said now pointing at Barty.

"He will beat you up if you ever make her cry, and I will break your arm if you ever break her heart, do I make that clear?" He asked and Xenophilius was never more scared in his life, he nodded and Regulus smiled.

"That's good, we'll see you around," he said and the three began to walk away.

"Do you think he'll tell Pandora?" Evan asked curiously.

"She'll kill us if she finds out," Barty added.

"No I don't think so," Regulus replied, Pandora would murder them for that, but they would murder him if he hurt her.

"Where are you going for Christmas?" Marlene asked Remus as she stirred her cauldron, they were brewing a healing potion.

"The Potters, what about you?" He asked, his potion was bubbling and glowing a bright purple and he looked over at Marlene's to see it was foaming and green.

"I'm going to mine, but I'm introducing Dorcas to my mum," she replied as she threw a grey powder into her potion.

"Is it meant to look like that? and I don't even know what you just put in there," Remus said.

"Mine is perfect for what I'm doing, yours is looking good Lupin," she smiled.

"Should I ask?" He asked her but he felt like he already knew the answer.

"No I don't think you should, you'll see, this lesson is a bit too long don't you think, pass me that," she said and pointed at a blue vial, he passed it to her and she stopped stirring and took a little step back and poured a drop into the potion.

It exploded and both their faces became black from soot, there was goop all across their robes and it took a second for Remus to realise his hair was aflame which he began to pat out quickly.

"Oh dear, you two better just go now, clean yourselves up, and have a good Christmas," he said and they were excused from the lesson.

"You could have given me a warning," Remus groaned, he kept running his hand through his curls, making sure that he hadn't lost a chunk of it.

He went to his dorm to shower and change, tomorrow they would be on the train. He could have gone home but he got the offer and his mother said it would be nicer for him there, he wrote to her a lot more, just checking in on her, but never to his father, as far as he was concerned he wasn't his father, just someone who lived with him.

Christmas was always great at the Potters and he knew it would be this year too.