Reggo my Eggo (Threequel)

Chapter 9

Regulus did in fact not have it. James ended up having to step in and help him open up the window, which ended up being locked, and very easy to open when unlocked.

Quietly, with the help of magic, they lifted themselves out of the window, landing in the soft, freshly fallen snow. This time, Regulus forced James to cast a heat charm over them so they wouldn't have to risk hypothermia.

Once outside, and about twenty meters away from the house, James attempted to cast a patronus.

"What happened to being able to cast a patronus?" Regulus sassed.

"I can! It's just... my happiest memory isn't working," James excused.

"Well, what memory did you use before? What happy memories have you made since the last time you cast a patronus?" Regulus questioned, growing more annoyed.

James pondered for a moment before continuing, "I haven't had to cast a patronus since the end of last year, but I used a memory of myself, Mooney, Padfoot, and Wormtail during our first Christmas together," he claimed.

"Well, are you missing a crucial part of that memory?" Regulus asked impatiently.

James looked offended at that accusation, "No! I could never forget that memory, it's engraved into my mind," he stated defensively.

"Right," Regulus sighed. "Between now and last school year, what happy memories have you made?"

"I don't know," James rubbed his hands across his face. "It's been a very long day,"

For them, it felt as if three weeks had dragged on, but in reality, it had only been a couple of days since the holidays had begun.

James was struggling to rack his mind of what memory could have beat his favourite one that took place in his first year at Hogwarts. There was no doubt that his favourite memory had to have still been with the other Marauders, it was just a matter of backtracking until he remembered it.

While he was caught in his thoughts, Regulus tapped his foot impatiently.

"We don't have all day," He uttered.

"I'm trying," He paused, "but you just interrupted my process, so now I have to restart," James declared back, making Regulus roll his eyes.

"Well now that we've jumped out of the window for nothing after struggling to sneak back in, shall we work our way back in?" Regulus grumbled.

"What? No! I've got this, just let me think without you jabbering in my ear!" James shot back as he retracted his memories of the last few months.

"Fine, you do that," Regulus muttered, before walking further into the trees, putting space between himself and the Gryffindor.

Regulus continued walking until the older teen was out of his line of sight. Regulus ended up stopping in front of an old cabin, the one from his nightmare, where he and James had hidden out in, the same one that was only from his dream, the one that didn't exist in reality.

The cabin looked the same as it did in the first nightmare, the roof was visibly collapsed on half of the cabin, and a tree had fallen down in front of the structure. Nothing had changed.

That meant they had to have been dreaming, or Regulus was still dreaming, he was probably dreaming everything, even to the point where the others were waking up from the same nightmare, he had to have been imagining that too.

Normally, he was no stranger to getting nightmares, but they were nothing like this one. He'd normally dream about his parents killing himself or his brother with the use of the cruciatus curse, or him joining the death eaters and the dark lord killing him, or joining them and being on opposite sides of the war than his brother and being forced to kill him.

Soon enough he'd have to wake up, it felt like he'd been asleep for weeks, but he'd probably wake up sooner or later only to discover that it wasn't winter break and he was late for class.

Part of him wondered whether or not he should return to the Gryffindor boy, while the other part of him didn't want to leave his current location. If it was a dream, he'd wake up and none of his actions would affect him in any way, shape, or form, but it still felt so real, which is why he was split.

James was pondering, he thought that maybe, his favourite memory could have been before the yule gala hosted by the Blacks when he convinced Regulus to go to Hogsmead with him, but it didn't feel entirely right. His favourite memory couldn't have changed from the time his first Christmas with his best friends, to hanging out with his best friend's brother, right?

But then, it could have also been switched to nearly anything. Maybe the memory didn't change. He's had two odd nightmares now, odd and terrifying. The memories were haunting his brain, he couldn't get them out of his mind. Everyone who he loved kept dying, maybe he was just incapable of happiness now, so much so that he can't think of one memory where he was truly, one hundred percent happy.

James hadn't even noticed Regulus' absence until he regained consciousness as he cleared his mind.

He turned his head left and right, searching for his best friend's brother, but he was out of sight. Luckily, with the fresh snow on the ground, no one could go anywhere without leaving a trail of footprints.

The footsteps lead through the forest and stopped in front of a familiar-looking, unstable cabin.

"Regulus?" James called into the cold air, not receiving any response.

The footprints went right up to the door, which appeared to be rotting away.

Upon swinging the door open, the door fell off of its hinges, sinking into the fluffy snow. James jumped back, startled at the unexpected door nearly falling on him.

He'd fix the door later -if ever-. Instead, he stepped inside the cabin, calling out for Regulus one more time, "Regulus?"

James jumped as a moment later, the Slytherin boy stood in front of him.

"Did you manage to send a patronus?" Regulus asked.

"Well no," James said sheepishly, "I'm still working on that," Regulus stared back at the boy with a blank expression.

"Don't bother, there's no point anyways," Regulus shrugged.

"But..." James paused. "Okay, do you have another plan?" James questioned.

"I don't."