Running in the dark

Chapter 45

Marlene took Dorcas' hand in her own intertwining their fingers together as James and Regulus sat down on the opposite leather couch in the Slytherin dorm, James had just told Regulus about the boggart incident that had just occurred an hour previously.

"When's the next match?" Marlene asked James starting up a conversation.

"In two weeks this will see if we will go to the final against Ravenclaw so I'll probably double practice," James replied.

Marlene let out a groan, the common room was empty and when the occasional Slytherin would see them they would shoot a quick glare before leaving. "I swear they made you captain to make me get out of bed in the morning," she mumbled.

"How's Remus doing?" Dorcas then asked, she hadn't really been able to talk to him since the night he told them about him being a werewolf but when she saw him he seemed to be a bit happier than before.

"He's getting better I think, he's talking to that Hufflepuff girl Melanie a lot, it drives Sirius crazy but she lightens his mood, she also lives in Whales so he was planning to meet up with her in the summer," James replied.

"Sirius just needs to give him some space, I think it's good he's talking to that girl, she's nice but a bit too smart for my taste," Marlene replied.

"I think you just called me a bit dumb," Dorcas said and Marlene tried to convince her otherwise.

James laughed and leant over resting his head on Regulus' shoulder. Regulus felt like they hadn't really had the chance to be that close recently, his OWLs were coming up in less than two months so he had been studying a lot more than usual and then if he wasn't he was with Remus or Sirius and both of them seemed to be mopey, it was worse if it was the two of them in silence and him, he was not a fan at starting conversations.

"Do you think the break-up was good?" Marlene then asked breaking Regulus from his happiness of having James so close.

"Would it be horrible if I said yes?" Regulus then said, Marlene and Dorcas gave him confused looks and he continued. "Sirius is my brother and all but Remus, well because..." He trailed off realising he wasn't sure what the two of them had been told about the whole situation.

"Wait, how much do you two know about why it happened?" He asked, he wanted to align his thoughts with the story they had.

"Well because of the prank and Remus hurting Snape and James as a werewolf he couldn't forgive Sirius," Dorcas answered.

"You know!" James said it was rather loud and he realised his mistake and said a soft apology.

"Yes, Remus told us and Mary everything," Marlene replied to his outburst.

"Oh good, I didn't know how much improvisation I would be able to do," Regulus continued. "Remus was always fragile about hurting people, and then he hurt James and Snape because of Sirius, he did something he didn't ever want to do, Sirius made a part of him he feared he was capable of coming true, if they stayed together Remus would end up hating himself and not being able to blame Sirius," Regulus answered.

He thought to himself for a few seconds while it was silent and then turned to James so that his head fell from his shoulder, and confusion was spread across his face.

"How were you in there, how did you help Snape without getting killed yourself Sirius and Peter came out untouched," he said, how had none of them thought of it before Remus would have killed them, there would have had to be something that stopped that.

James' face became red and he let out a sheepish laugh. "How well are you guys with keeping secrets about illegal stuff?" He asked.

"Oh Merlin, I don't think I even want to know," Regulus sighed waiting for the impact of what James would say.

"Well me, Peter and Sirius are animagus, werewolves don't see us as threats that way," he replied.

"Shut the fuck up, really?" Marlene said a large smile across her face, she was rather enjoying this conversation.

"Please don't tell me you can turn into a bloody cow, if you can turn into a cow I'll break up with you right now they are the most horrible animals ever," Regulus said.

James laughed and stood up and transformed, he became a stage and Marlene clapped her hands like an over-excited three-year-old.

"You're a deer," Dorcas chuckled and James turned back and let out a fake gasp.

"Meadowes I have never been more insulted in my life, I am not some common deer, I am a stag," he said dramatically flopping down beside Regulus.

"That's just the name for a male deer, you're a bloody deer," Regulus muttered.

"What are Sirius and Peter, if one of them is a cat I'm adopting them," Marlene asked eagerly.

"Sirius is a dog and Peter's a rat," James replied, he looked at Regulus who looked not surprised at all, he was rather aware of James' impulsiveness at this point.

"I am going to put Peter in my pocket one day," Marlene smiled.

They kept talking about what had happened and their opinions. Dorcas and James were rather sure they would get back together, James was very keen on that happening, he hated seeing them both so unhappy, but he also knew it would be a while until both of them had fully mended.

Marlene wanted Remus happy, she believed that if Sirius really wanted Remus back he would have to find a way to prove himself, to show him worthy of Remus, at one point they realised she had started to quote a movie.

Regulus believed that they would learn to love each other again if they truly wanted to, and if not they would just grow apart.