The Day the Music Died | Jegulus, Wolfstar

The Portable Swamp

Television man is crazy,
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks.
Oh, man, I need TV when I got T-Rex.
Oh, brother, you've guessed, I'm a dude, dad.
All the young dudes (hey, dudes!)
Carry the news (where are you?)

After that day, things had been way better, the marauders were more bonded than ever, and since Sirius and Remus just liked to song all day long, he was stuck with the good ol' Pete, which to many's surprise, had a girlfriend, so he spent most of his free afternoons with the younger Black, and he wasn't even mad about it, he and Reg often had little chats on the astronomy tower, or in the library, people were surprised at their interaction, but no one really spoke about it to James' relief.

One day, a few weeks before the Christmas break, they decided to take a trip to Hogsmeade, they had little to no free time, so as soon as the exams were over, the marauders were already planning their next prank, to leave Hogwarts with a mark over Christmas. The group stepped in The Three Broomsticks and sat in the table with their jars locked in their hands, warmth spreading in their fingertips.

  "We have to leave a mark this year, earn a place in Hogwarts' history books as the greater pranksters the school has ever seen," James tabled, playing with his fingers.

  "We could use a few simple enchantments to actually write on Hogwarts' walls," Peter tabled, but no one paid attention to him.

  "Enchant the great hall's ceiling to make it snow?" Added Sirius, engulfed in his own thoughts.

  "Nah," James refused, "Dumbledore's going to fix that before we get an inch of snow in the tables" Sirius nodded in agreement.

Remus hummed, and that was the sign of a good prank coming to his head.

  "Moony, I know you have something, spit it out!" Sirius smiled.

  "You gotta earn it, Pads," he smirked.

Sirius grabbed his jaw and gave him a smooch, he left a very pleased Remus with red lips. James was both surprised and revolted of them doing this in the middle of the bar. Peter gagged.

  "We could set a portable pond in the entrance, a few easy enchantments should make it massive, and hard to vanish," Moony said, earning everyone's grins.

"You're a genius, my dear Moony!" Sirius yapped, giving him a hug, Remus smiled fondly at him and caressed his wavy black hair.

"We'll look into it this evening then, that's all sorted," affirmed James, greatly relieved.

Suddenly, the door opened with a loud thump; two Slytherin boys entered the place, bringing nothing more than duskiness with them, but at the front, a small figure stood with superiority, his parted hair and his bright eyes could not be mistaken, it was Regulus. But he wasn't looking as cocky as ever, his eyes were narrowed, his hair messy, and he had huge, bags under his eyes, dark as his last name.

James stood up without thinking.

  "Could you lot excuse me for a second?" And not waiting for their answer, he headed towards Regulus' direction, not taking his eyes off the younger Black. A few steps before he reached him, their gazes met, Regulus looked scared, even, he mouthed something to his friend, Barty Crouch, who was staring at him with very malicious intents, and he scurried off to the nearest table available, leaving the two boys alone.

Regulus still managed to look good after all, with his green scarf tightly around his neck like a snake trying to choke him.

  "Reg, what's up with you?" Asked James with an apologetic smile, which he didn't return.

After all the times he misnamed Regulus, he successfully annoyed him enough to stop whining about it.

  "Nothing," he answered, James realized right away something wasn't right about him, the dry answer, the looks, something was off.

"Reg, you know you can tell me anything, yeah?"

Regulus gazed at him, there was pain in his eyes, often bright, they were opaque, obscure as his hair.

  "Leave me alone, alright? This doesn't concern you" he said sternly, now raising his voice along with his jaw.

"We're mates, as far as I'm concerned, it is my concern," he pushed.

"Stop it, James, I'm serious now"

"No, you're Regulus," James snickered while he grabbed Reg's shoulder, but the younger Black didn't smile, he immediately grasped his wand and pressed it against James' bare neck, forcing him to let go.

"I'm warning you, Potter, don't come near me... or else," he pressed it even harder, but not for long, Sirius and the other two appeared from behind James, and took their wand out, so did Barty, but Regulus knew better, "stay away from me" he said, lastly, and exited the bar with his friend, leaving James dumbfounded. After a few seconds he turned around to see his three friends standing beside him, wands ready, and grinned in his insides, what great friends he had.

Sirius suddenly shoved him to the wall and pointed his wand at his neck, again.

  "What is wrong with you?"

James shrugged.

  "A lot, probably"

  "Why did you talk to my brother? You know he's a spoiled prat, he's evil, just like mom"

  "He isn't evil, Sirius. We're friends," James felt a sudden urge to punch his mate, so did Sirius.

  "Oh yeah, you're going to tell me he's not after he pressed his wand on your neck?" Sirius was almost bawling at this point, it was kind of ironic taking in account he was doing the same thing, but James decided to refrain from making the situation worse.

  "There's something wrong with him, okay? I know him, I've been seeing him while you lot were busy snoggin' all day, and he isn't like you said, not at all"

  "Why are you even hangin' out with him in the first place, James?! I thought we were mates, thought we didn't keep secrets, was that all bollocks for you?!" Sirius snarled.

James had no defence, he lied to Sirius, of course, he didn't think it would be that important.

  "I'm sorry, okay? I really am, I really tried to tell you, but Sirius, listen to me, he's your brother, and clearly something isn't right about him, can't you see it? He looks like he hasn't slept for weeks, you've got to do something"

  "I'll figure that out myself, thanks. I don't need a traitor to help me with my brother" Sirius lowered his wand and exited the place grabbing Remus' hand, which gave James one pity look before vanishing.

Peter came closer and stared at the empty door, pretty much everyone was, after the fight, which wasn't very quiet to say at least.

"Show's over fellas, you can stop lookin' now," James snarled and looked at Peter, "looks like it's just us again"

"Sure looks like it, dunno how you lot are gonna fix this up"

"Thanks Pete, very reassuring, as always," sighed James, he had lost his friend as his brother on the same day, and he still had to perform a portable swamp in less than a month. How convenient.

***