Jealousy, Jealousy || Jegulus & Rosekiller

34. The locket

Regulus

Silence falls, Bowie's voice reverberates lonely on the walls.

Evan murmurs: "Reg, forget everything Sirius said".

Regulus remains silent, hidden in their embrace. "He's right".

"He's not", Evan says decisively.

"Look at you. You're great", says Barty, and Regulus shakes his head.

"You're not like your parents. They didn't manage to make you become like them", Barty continues.

"You're your own person, you do what you like", Evan says.

"Not when I'm at home", Regulus murmurs. "When I'm with them, I change. Into something I hate. I never do what's right, I never did it with Sirius".

"You did what you could, Reg", says Evan holding him.

"It wasn't enough".

"You're doing the best you can", Barty says. "And I'm happy you didn't put yourself in danger, I wouldn't have been able to see you hurt".

"We're proud of you, even if you're not", Evan says. "You're always there for us, comforting us when we need it".

Barty cups his cheek and makes him meet his eyes, "You know you do", he says.

"And you're a great captain, always encouraging the others. You have never gotten angry, even when I would have been exasperated", Barty says and that makes him smile a little.

"In class you always help who needs it", Evan keeps listing.

"You hexed Snape when he deserved it", says Barty.

"And it's not true that you transform at home. We've been there with you".

"I compromise. That's not good either", Regulus says.

"It's the best you can do", Evan repeats.

"And we are all a bit damaged", he adds.

Barty sits down beside him, he pulls him into his lap and holds him.

"What would make you feel better, Reg?"

Regulus just shakes his head. Barty tells Evan to put on the Beatles' record.

"No!", he exclaims.

"Yes", Barty says, "You'll cry and feel bad. You'll feel all your emotions, just like you always tell us. And you're going to get it out of your system. We'll remain right here beside you".

And they do, as he cries, as Sirius' words keep echoing in his head, as he struggles, as he fights to reemerge from the numbness that swallowed him whole, which was better than this overflow of pain threatening to shatter him, but Barty is right, he knows it's good for him.

Until he has no more tears left.

He turns up from where he was hidden in Barty's chest and sees Barty smiling softly at him. Evan pulls him into a hug from where he was sitting beside them.

"Better?" he asks. Regulus nods, with a small smile.

"Enough. We're going flying", says Barty. Regulus lets them drag him along, but as soon as he's in the air, he's glad to have come. They play with the quaffle, they fly aimlessly around, then he releases the snitch and goes after it. And he feels normal again.

When they arrive, he says: "I'm going to take a nap".

"Captain, I can't believe you, we didn't even do a proper match", Barty teases.